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Six South Texas Counties Targeted For More Zika Testing

Wendy Rigby
/
Texas Public Radio
In December 2016, Daisy Garcia of Harlingen listens to her unborn baby's heartbeat.

The Texas Department of State Health Services is expanding its recommendation for who needs to be tested for the Zika virus.

As the weather warms and mosquitoes are more plentiful, state health officials are casting a wider net to detect pregnant women who may be infected with the Zika virus.

  

The health alert targets women in their first and second trimesters in six Lower Rio Grande Valley border counties: Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, Webb, Willacy and Zapata.

Zika can cause devastating birth defects. The first six locally transmitted cases in Texas were pinpointed in Brownsville last November and December.

Wendy Rigby is a San Antonio native who has worked as a journalist for more than 25 years. She spent two decades at KENS-TV covering health and medical news. Now, she brings her considerable background, experience and passion to Texas Public Radio.