The first case of local Zika transmission in the continental US this year has been reported

Fernando Llano/AP

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas health officials have reported what they believe to be the state's first case this year of local Zika virus transmission.

A statement Wednesday by the Texas Department of State Health Services says the person hasn't traveled outside his home area recently, so the virus was probably transmitted by a mosquito in the last few months. The infected person is a resident of Hidalgo County in the lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas.

A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesman says that if the agency confirms the case resulted from a local transmission, it would be the first this year in the U.S.

Six cases of local Zika transmission were reported last year in Texas. Zika can cause severe birth defects in babies of some women infected during pregnancy.