The Alabama Department of Public Health issued a press release on Monday to clarify that it is merely investigating potential cases of the Zika and West Nile viruses in the state, following an incorrect media report stating that a case of the Zika virus has been confirmed in Pelham.
WBRC reported on Monday that the Shelby County Health Department has confirmed a case of Zika in Pelham, but a state health department official told Yellowhammer News that the presence of the Zika virus has not been confirmed.
“No case of Zika has been confirmed in Alabama,” Dr. Dee Jones, the state’s public health veterinarian, told Yellowhammer News.
Jones went on to expound on the press release, explaining that the department is conducting investigations where the virus might appear in folks who have recently traveled abroad to places where the virus is endemic, but that no actual case has been confirmed.
The press release does not specify how many people are under investigation, but it does reinforce that in all cases of Zika that have been previously confirmed in Alabama, each virus has been contracted by those who have traveled to those areas of the world where the virus is endemic. In other words, there have been no cases of local transmission.
Read the full press release here.
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