CDC: Zika Virus In Minnesota, No Threat Of Spreading

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Officials with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced Wednesday that a traveler returning from Central America brought the Zika virus to Minnesota.

This is the first confirmed case of the virus in the state this year. The most recent other case occurred in 2014.

The traveler is an Anoka County woman in her 60s who recently came back from Honduras, officials with the Minnesota Department of Health and the CDC say.

The woman was not hospitalized and is expected to make a full recovery.

The CDC says there is no risk of the virus spreading in Minnesota.

Related: Expert Talks On The Zika Virus Threat

Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that, in rare cases, can cause serious birth defects in infants.

Since late last month, the CDC has advised pregnant women not to travel in Zika-affected parts of the Western Hemisphere, including several countries in Central and South America.

Most people who get infected with the virus (80 percent) don't show symptoms, the CDC says. Those that do show mild ones: fever, rash, red eyes.

The World Health Organization says it expects Zika virus to spread to every country in the Western Hemisphere expect Canada.

There is currently no vaccine for it.