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SALT LAKE CITY — Health officials are investigating what they say is a “unique” case of Zika virus in which a caretaker for an elderly Salt Lake County man with Zika also contracted the virus.
This is the first example in the U.S. of a person contracting Zika without going through one of two known routes: recent travel to an affected area or sexual contact with an infected person.
The announcement at a news conference Monday raises disquieting questions about a possible new method of Zika transmission.
“We’re learning something new about Zika virus every day,” said Dr. Erin Staples, a medical epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who was in Utah to help with the investigation. “The situation appears to be unique.”
Officials declined to give more details about the patient, besides the fact that he or she was a "family contact" helping take care of the Salt Lake County man. He contracted Zika after traveling to an affected country and died in June, becoming the first Zika-related death in the continental U.S.
Dr. Angela Dunn, deputy state epidemiologist at the Utah Department of Health, said officials are still uncertain how the "family contact" contracted Zika. But she said the "family contact" experienced a mild illness and has since fully recovered, like most people who are infected with Zika.
The mosquito species that carries Zika is not typically found in Utah, nor are Utah’s native mosquito species known to be capable of transmitting Zika virus.
Because the virus can be found in blood, researchers believe the virus can theoretically be transmitted through contact with infected blood, according to Staples. She said evidence of exposure has been seen in some labs when samples were not handled correctly.
Although the case remains somewhat of a mystery, health officials do not believe the public is at risk.
Researchers have no evidence that Zika can become airborne, Dunn said, nor do officials expect that to be a cause.
The now-deceased individual had "uniquely high" levels of virus in his blood — more than 100,000 times higher than seen in other samples of affected people — according to the CDC.
That makes this case "a unique situation,” Dunn said. “But again, there’s a lot of uncertainty.”
A CDC emergency response team is assisting local officials in the investigation. Dunn said public health specialists are conducting additional interviews and testing of family members who may have come into contact with the patient.
University of Utah Health Care is also in the process of conducting additional testing for staff members who cared for the deceased individual, said associate vice president of clinical affairs Dr. Ed Clark. The secondary person who was infected was not a hospital staff member, Clark said.
Officials are also working with mosquito abatement districts to continue to trap and test mosquitos, with a focus on the areas where the deceased man stayed.
The case brings the total number of confirmed cases of Zika in Utah to eight. With the exception of the most recent patient, all the other infected individuals had recently traveled to a Zika-infected area, according to officials.
The Zika virus continues to pose the biggest threat to pregnant women and their babies, who are at risk of a rare and severe birth defect called microcephaly.
The virus is primarily spread to people through the bite of the Aedes aegypti or Aedes albopictus mosquito. Zika can also be spread through sex — from men to women as well as from women to men.
At this time, officials are not asking caretakers of Zika patients to take “any particular precautions beyond regular good hygiene practices.”
They repeated their warnings to travelers going to Zika-affected areas.
The CDC advises those who have recently returned from a Zika-affected area to use condoms or avoid having sex for at least eight weeks. If your partner develops Zika symptoms, experts recommend using condoms or avoiding sex for at least six months.
Dunn encouraged women who are pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant to avoid affected areas.
People should also continue to remove standing water and protect themselves from mosquitos, which can carry other diseases like West Nile virus, Dunn said.
