NSW HEALTH has reassured Dubbo residents that "local transmission" of the Zika virus in the state is unlikely because the mosquitoes that spread the infection "are not found here".
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Its advice has been passed on by the Western NSW Local Health District after it was asked about the virus by the Daily Liberal.
NSW Health's director communicable diseases Dr Vicky Sheppeard responded to the inquiry.
"It is very unlikely that Zika virus will establish local transmission in NSW as the mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) that spread the infection are not found here, although they are found in some parts of north Queensland," she said.
Dr Sheppeard said the two confirmed cases of Zika virus in NSW this year were "related".
" Both people had recently returned from Haiti, a country in the Caribbean where Zika virus transmission has been recently reported," she said.
The director warned pregnant women about travelling to countries experiencing outbreaks.
"Due to the concerns about the possibility of severe outcomes for unborn babies, women who are pregnant or could become pregnant, should consider delaying their travel to regions where there are active Zika virus outbreaks, including parts of South and Central America," she said.
On Thursday a pregnant Australian woman in southeast Queensland was reported to have contracted the virus after returning from overseas.
Queensland Health said she was the third case to be confirmed in the state in 24 hours.
In NSW in 2014 four cases of Zika virus were diagnosed in people who had travelled from the Cook Islands.
In 2015 another case was discovered in NSW in a traveller returning from the Solomon Islands.
Currently there is no vaccine to fight the virus.
Dr Sheppeard said the Zika virus appeared to be spreading in the Americas.
For more information visit www.health.nsw.gov.au.