1. Smith County has one reported Zika case in 2017

A case of Zika virus has been identified in a Gregg County resident, but it was not contracted locally, a representative with the county health authority said Monday.

Fred Killingsworth, administrative assistant for the county health authority, said he believes the patient had traveled to Puerto Rico to visit family and contracted the virus there. Killingsworth said no mosquitoes carrying Zika have been found here. The patient began taking treatment for the illness on Aug. 5, he said.

“We’re just watching it, and we’ll see what we’ll do from there,” he said. “There’s not a lot we can do.”

Killingsworth said he did not know whether the patient landed at East Texas Regional Airport or had driven in from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. He also wasn’t positive of the patient’s gender but said it is not a pregnant woman.

The case in Gregg County is one of 122 in the state, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. No other cases exist in the immediate East Texas area. Cases are in the double digits in Harris, Dallas and Tarrant counties.

Read the full story: https://www.news-journal.com/news/2016/aug/22/zika-virus-case-reported-gregg-county.