Year’s first case of Zika in state reported in Valley

AUSTIN — Texas health officials have reported what they believe to be the state’s first case this year of local Zika virus transmission.

A statement Wednesday by the Texas Department of State Health Services says the person hasn’t traveled outside his home area recently, so the virus probably was transmitted by a mosquito in the last few months. The infected person is a resident of Hidalgo County in the lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas.

A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesman says that if the agency confirms the case resulted from a local transmission, it would be the first this year in the U.S.

Six cases of local Zika transmission were reported last year in Texas.