4 more tested for Zika virus in Dallas County

Four more people in Dallas County are being tested for the dangerous Zika virus.

There’s also a new confirmed case in Travis County in Central Texas. An Austin man who traveled to Columbia was bitten and infected by a mosquito there.

The virus can also be transmitted sexually, as it was in a Dallas County case. It poses a threat to women who are or may become pregnant.

Doctors are encouraging people to be proactive.

“I doubt that we will ever have nearly the issue here in the United States that they are in those countries, but we really don’t want people traveling there. And the hope is that we can keep control of the mosquitoes here so that people won’t have as much to worry about in the United States,” said Dr. Patricia Larue from Methodist Dallas Medical Center.

Gov. Greg Abbott has set up a task force to help plot the spread of the virus and find ways to attack the bugs that carry it.

Other states are on the offensive as well. Florida’s governor declared a state of emergency in five counties and urged people to remove standing water and spray for mosquitoes.

There are a dozen cases there, all of them who traveled outside of the country.