2 in state test positive for Zika

Total confirmed cases of virus in Arkansas stands at four

Two more Arkansans have tested positive for the Zika virus after returning from overseas trips, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Health said Tuesday.

One of the infected individuals had been in South or Central America and the other had returned from the Pacific Islands, Health Department spokesman Meg Mirivel said.

The infections bring the total confirmed cases in the state since January to four, she said. The other two also involved travelers who had returned from overseas.

The newest cases were confirmed at the Health Department's laboratory using a type of test that officials have said is used within seven days of the onset of symptoms, she said.

In the two earlier cases, the tests were performed more than two weeks after the infections had occurred, meaning the Arkansans were no longer at risk for spreading the virus to mosquitoes, Health Department officials have said.

The Zika virus, carried by a specific mosquito species, was once believed to be confined to Africa, where it was identified in 1947, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands, but was reported for the first time last year in Brazil. It has since spread to several other countries in Central and South America and the Caribbean.

The virus has caused concern among public health officials primarily because of its link to a birth defect, known as microcephaly, in which babies are born with unusually small heads and underdeveloped brains.

The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis (red eyes), according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The usually mild illness lasts for several days to a week, and people usually don't get sick enough to go to the hospital, the CDC says on its Zika Web page.

The CDC reported that, as of April 20, there had been 388 travel cases of Zika within the 50 states, but no instances of the virus being spread within the country. Infections have occurred in the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The virus can be spread through mosquito bites and by sexual transmission. The CDC has advised pregnant women to avoid travel to areas where the virus is spreading.

The state Health Department is offering testing to pregnant women who have traveled to a Zika-affected country and others who have at least two symptoms of infection.

Sixty-three Arkansans had been tested as of late last week, officials said.

Metro on 04/27/2016

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