Health officials in Pennsylvania have reported three additional Zika virus cases, bring the state total to 11 imported cases.

Image/CDC
Image/CDC

The Pennsylvania Department of Health says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed 11 Zika cases and another 211 tests pending.

Zika virus is a generally mild illness that is spread primarily through the bite of an infected mosquito. Common symptoms of Zika virus disease are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes), lasting from several days to one week. Rarely, the virus is spread from mother to child. Spread of the virus through blood transfusion and sexual contact has also been reported.

The current Zika virus outbreak began in May 2015 in Brazil, leading to reports of Guillain-Barré syndrome and pregnant women giving birth to babies with birth defects and poor pregnancy outcomes. The outbreak has spread to numerous countries and areas, prompting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to issue travel notices to regions where the Zika virus transmission is ongoing.

There have been recent reports of individuals in the US contracting Zika virus by sexual contact with partners who acquired the Zika infection while traveling abroad. Other confirmed cases of the illness in the U.S. have occurred in individuals who had traveled to areas affected by the Zika outbreak.

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