Zika spreads its tentacles

A resident of Virginia, United States has tested positive for the mosquito-transmitted Zika virus, state health officials said on Tuesday. The adult resident had recently travelled to a country where Zika virus transmission was ongoing and the infection was confirmed through testing by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Virginia Department of Health said in a statement. The Zika virus, first detected in Africa in the 1940s, was unknown in the Americas until last year when it appeared in northeastern Brazil. The virus has quickly spread through Latin America.