POUGHKEEPSIE – The chance of contracting the Zika virus in the Hudson Valley is slim to none, according to health officials.
The illness, for which there is no treatment or cure, is imported by people who traveled to countries in South America, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean, said Dr. Stuart Feinstein, head of the Health Quest Medical Practice’s Division of Infectious diseases.
He also said it is unlikely that mosquitoes carrying the disease could be brought to the US and survive.
“I guess potentially you could bring a mosquito back directly and let it go on the loose,” Feinstein said. “I don’t know how hearty those mosquitoes are, if they can survive a trip like that. Also, they won’t generally live in this area so they are not going to reproduce.”
One case has surfaced in Orange County, but that person had traveled from that region, officials said. There are seven reported cases in the state.
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