Health official: Woman with Zika virus to deliver in Corpus Christi

April 13--A pregnant woman diagnosed with Zika virus will be coming to Corpus Christi for delivery and care, according to a public health official.

Arrangements are being made for an individual for a "higher level of care," which will include delivery at an appropriate facility, said Dr. William W. Burgin Jr. with the Corpus Christi-Nueces County Public Health District. He would not say which hospital, a specific date or any details about where the woman is from.

The virus is spread to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes aegypti mosquito. This mosquito, and Aedes albopictus (which can carry Dengue fever, West Nile virus and Zika) tend to be abundant during South Texas summers. It can also be transmitted between sexual partners.

One thing to remember about children born to mothers afflicted with Zika virus is that it's rare the virus will be present in the baby at all, said Dr. Jaime Fergie, director of infectious diseases at Driscoll Children's Hospital and professor of pediatrics at Texas A&M University.

MORE: Check out where the City of Corpus Christi is spraying for mosquitoes.

"Many of those babies will have no virus alive in them," Fergie said. "Most babies will be noninfectious, and not actively carrying the virus."

Ten percent of children born to mothers with Zika are will have congenital Zika syndrome, which is not as high as experts were estimating last year, he said. This includes a number of birth defects, including microcephaly, which is a underdeveloped head and brain for which there is no cure.

Driscoll is unique in its care because of a team of physicians, surgeons, nurses and volunteers who are trained in handling babies born with congenital anomalies.

"We have a very comprehensive group of people, and very extensive teamwork that is not just physicians but nurses who are specialized to work with babies with congenital anomalies," he said. "We have everybody that potentially is needed for a baby born with severe congenital defects to get their best possible outcome."

In early March, five Texas counties (Bexar, Brazoria, Collin, Lubbock and Smith) had a confirmed case of Zika, and Cameron County had two cases.

On Nov. 28, 2016, the Texas Department of State Health Services reported the state's first case of local mosquito-borne Zika virus in Brownsville. Since more cases have cropped up in Brownsville, DSHS said there is a continued risk of Zika virus spreading in that city.

The CDC has designated Brownsville as a Zika cautionary area, or "yellow" area, which means there is no evidence of widespread, sustained local spread of the virus. There is still a risk to pregnant women in Cameron County and most areas of South Texas.

Two possible Zika vaccines are in clinical trials, Fergie said. But prevention is the best, and currently only, defense against mosquitoes carrying the virus.

For more on how to prevent mosquito bites, go to www.ccparkandrec.com/assets/departments/police/animal-care/files/mosquitoes.pdf.

Here are the CDC mosquito bite prevention tips:

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