Story released by KEYC-TV
According to KEYC-TV in Mankato, and reported on http://www.keyc.com, after a trip to Central America, two Cottonwood County residents returned home and displayed symptoms of the mosquito–born zika virus.
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) reported that their test results came back this week confirming the virus in their system.
One of the patients has fully recovered, with the second about 90% recovered from the virus, which lasts about a week in the body.
Family Practice Physician Avera Medical in Windom, Dr. Rod Dynes, noted that, “Primary symptoms for Zika are fever, rash and joint aches, and often conjunctivitis or red eyes.”
Dr. Dynes had also treated the virus while working through Christian Medical and Dentist Associations in Honduras this past June.
He stressed that there is no public health risk of contracting the disease in southern Minnesota, since Zika–carrying mosquitoes aren’t native to this area. Dr. Dynes stated in the article that, “Currently, it’s not spread from person-to-person at all without intimate relations; it can be spread sexually.”
The best prevention from the virus is to not travel to the areas where Zika carrying mosquitoes are present, including Central America, the Caribbean and even south Florida.
And for those traveling, the best protection is bug spray, wearing pants and long sleeve shirts and to stay inside, although it’s not always effective.
Dr. Dynes explained that the Cottonwood County residents knew all about Zika, had studied it online and did all the preventive measures to try and prevent it – yet, “mosquitoes are mosquitoes and they are pesky little things.”
Travel to affected areas is strongly discouraged for pregnant women, because Zika can cause birth defects, as well as for men and women looking to have a child in the next six months-to-one-year.
The MDH reports there have been 45 travel–associated confirmed cases of Zika in the state.
