MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Health officials are reporting the first case of Zika virus in Shelby County.
The Shelby County Health Department said Thursday that the person with the virus traveled to one of the countries where Zika is prevalent. The department did not name the person who has the virus or the country to which the victim had traveled.
Zika is a mosquito-borne virus spreading rapidly across Latin America. Most people who get it experience only minor symptoms, if any at all, but the virus has been linked to a devastating birth defect that causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads.
Health officials are asking residents to take precautions to reduce their risk of mosquito bites.
State health officials reported Tennessee's first case of Zika in February.