Dallas County says 10 pregnant women showing signs of Zika

DALLAS - Dallas County Health and Human Services is reporting that 10 pregnant women in the county are showing signs of the Zika virus.

The health department said their cases will not be confirmed until their babies are born and can be tested.

The patients are all women who traveled to the United States from outside the country. They did not contract the virus while in the United States.

There have been a total of nine confirmed cases of Zika in Dallas County. Tarrant County also confirmed its sixth case of imported Zika Tuesday.

At Dr. Carol Norton's office on the Methodist Richardson campus she's had no confirmed Zika cases, but lots of questions from anxious patients.

“I think the most critical thing for patients in North Texas to remember is that as of yet there are no cases of Zika acquired within the U.S. from a U.S. mosquito,” Norton said. “If you are actively trying to conceive and you are pregnant stay out of the areas where Zika is prevalent.”

In Texas, doctors are asked to only refer patients for testing with very specific criteria. Those who've recently traveled to territories with active Zika-virus transmission and show signs of Zika illness qualify. Others include pregnant women who could have had exposure either from travel or through unprotected sex with someone who has been to a place with Zika outbreaks.

The health department is concerned that eventually humans might unknowingly help bring the infected mosquitoes to North Texas. So far that hasn’t happened, but the department is still urging people to use things like bug spray to avoid bites.