Lehigh student recovers after Zika case

Lehigh University says a student has recovered after becoming infected with the Zika virus.

The school said in a message to students and staff that the student had traveled abroad over winter break.

"We are grateful to be able to report that the student has recovered and is feeling well," the message said, adding that officials don't believe anyone else on campus is at risk.

State Department of Health officials said earlier this week that two female Pennsylvania residents who had recently traveled to other countries became infected with mild cases of the virus.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey said the local cases underscore the need for Congress to move quickly to approve President Barack Obama's request for $1.8 billion in emergency funding to fight the virus domestically and abroad.

"Congress needs to be proactive, not reactive, so that our communities are prepared to respond to the threat," the Pennsylvania Democrat said on a conference call with reporters.

Concern over the Zika virus has been rising amid reports of babies born with abnormally small heads to women who were infected while pregnant in Brazil.

The World health Organization has declared a public health emergency due to the possible link between the birth defects and the mosquito-borne virus.

Reports also surfaced this week of the discovery of the virus in the placentas of two U.S. women who contracted the virus abroad and miscarried after returnining home.

The bulk of the president's emergency-funding request would go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to support mosquito control, state readiness, improving laboratory capacity and surveillance efforts.

Casey called Zika "a disease with serious consequences for the most vulnerable" and it was necessary to make sure public-health workers "have the resources they need to respond."

It wasn't clear Thursday whether the Lehigh student's illness was a third case in Pennsylvania or one of the two initially reported.

The state Health Department said it wouldn't publicly update the number of cases in the state until Monday, nor would it release the locations of the first two cases. Casey said he didn't know whether the Lehigh case constituted a third report.

New Jersey and Delaware have each had at least one confirmed Zika case.