The Texas Department of State Health Services on Dec. 7 reported the state's third locally acquired Zika case for 2017 in a resident of Hidalgo County.
Health officials are investigating the case and increasing mosquito control efforts and surveillance in the county.
"Hidalgo County is one of nine counties in South Texas where DSHS recommends testing all pregnant women for Zika once during each trimester of pregnancy and testing anyone with an itchy rash plus one other common Zika symptom: fever, joint pain or eye redness," the health department said in a news update. "This enhanced surveillance, first introduced in April 2017, has resulted in identifying Zika infections that would otherwise have gone undetected. DSHS made the testing recommendations because the area’s geography and climate put it at higher risk for Zika transmission."
In October, the state reported a locally acquired case of Zika in Cameron County, which was preceded by the state's first case of locally acquired Zika identified in July in another resident of Hidalgo County.
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