(AP) -- Health officials say a patient in Dallas County, Texas, has acquired the Zika virus through sex.
Dallas County Health and Human Services said Tuesday it received confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The patient was infected after having sexual contact with an ill person who returned from a country where Zika was present.
The Zika virus is usually spread through mosquito bites. Investigators have been exploring the possibility the virus also can be spread through sex. It was found in one man's semen in Tahiti, and there was report of a Colorado researcher who caught the virus overseas and apparently spread it to his wife back home in 2008.
Health officials note there are no reports of Zika being locally transmitted by mosquitoes in Dallas county.
The Florida Department of Health is reporting six new travel-associated cases of Zika in Florida. The Health Department says travel-related cases are defined as disease believed to be contracted outside of the state.
According to Tim O’Connor with the Palm Beach County Health Department, currently there are no cases of Zika in Palm Beach County and no current plans for aerial spraying for mosquitoes in the county.
He says crews are continuing to do ground monitoring and spraying as needed.
