A Long Island resident has been diagnosed with the Zika virus, after returning from Central America last summer.
Health officials in Nassau County said the patient was originally diagnosed with West Nile Virus. They did not identify the patient, or say which country the patient traveled from.
Nassau Health Commissioner Dr. Lawrence Eisenstein said on Thursday that there is no cause for concern for Long Islanders. The Zika virus is spread by the bite of a specific mosquito and cannot be by casual spread person-to-person contact.
“We don’t want our residents to panic," he said. "There is zero chance of catching this disease in Nassau County right now, so residents are not at risk if they go out on the street.”
Officials are warning the county will see more cases due to the large Central American community that travels back and forth to their home countries. For most people, symptoms of the Zika virus include fever and joint pain, which usually go away by itself in a week. However, Zika can cause severe birth defects in babies of infected mothers.
U.S. health officials have issued travel advisories for more than 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.