Texas reports case of sexually transmitted Zika virus

A county in Texas on Tuesday reported a case of Zika virus being sexually transmitted, raising new concerns about the spread of a mosquito-borne virus linked to birth defects.

Reached for comment by AFP, a spokesman for Dallas County Health and Human Services declined to identify the gender of the traveler or where he or she visited.

The county "has received confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the first Zika virus case acquired through sexual transmission in Dallas County in 2016," said a statement.

"The patient was infected with the virus after having sexual contact with an ill individual who returned from a country where Zika virus is present."

A spokesman for the CDC said the federal agency did not investigate the mode of transmission, but did confirm the infection.

Last month the CDC said it was aware of one reported case of sexual transmission of Zika and one case of the virus being present in a man's semen after it disappeared from his blood.

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