While the Zika virus still seems to present the greatest threat to residents of Brazil and Venezuela, Newtown Health District Director Donna Culbert is keeping a wary eye on developments around the growing number of people who have become infected - and hoping mosquitoes and infected humans harboring the disease remain thousands of miles away.Infected Travelers ReturningMonitoring Local ProvidersAssociated Press content is used in this report.

But given Newtown's proximity to New York and Boston, and the fact that many local residents travel to areas where the Zika virus is spreading, the local health official is not letting an opportunity pass to stress prevention.

"Now that there is concern that the virus can be transmitted via sexual contact as well as by a bite from an infected mosquito, the knowledge we are developing is going to evolve quickly, and we're all going to be learning about it together," Ms Culbert said.

Ms Culbert stresses that the highest risk posed by the disease is to pregnant women who are bitten by a mosquito carrying the virus, or apparently via sexual contact with a partner who has an active infection or is carrying Zika. She said currently, about one in five contracting the virus shows any outward signs.

While most people experience either mild or no symptoms, Zika is suspected of causing a devastating birth defect - babies born with abnormally small heads - and pregnant Americans are urged to avoid travel to affected areas. And this week, President Barack Obama is asking Congress for more than $1.8 billion in emergency funding to fight the Zika virus and the mosquitoes that spread it here and abroad.

The virus is primarily confined to, and is spreading rapidly through, Latin America.

According to the Associated Press, US health officials say the money is critical for research into the birth defect known as microcephaly. They also want to speed development of a vaccine and better diagnostic tests, and expand mosquito control programs. Some of the money would also aid Zika-stricken countries and territories.

While experts do not expect large outbreaks in the continental US, the emergency funding also would help them prepare for any local transmission as spring and summer approach.

"For the average American, this is not something that will change our day-to-day life," Dr Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters at a White House briefing February 5. "Our focus is on protecting pregnant women and trying to control the mosquito."

The Pan American Health Organization reports 26 countries and territories in South and Central America and the Caribbean with local Zika transmission. To date, there has been no transmission of the Zika virus by mosquitoes within the US, but American travelers - 50 with laboratory-confirmed cases between December and last week - have returned home with the infection.

At least one case in Texas is believed to have been transmitted through sex, and last week officials in Brazil, hard-hit by Zika, reported finding the virus in saliva and urine. That does not necessarily mean Zika can spread through those body fluids, said Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. Dr Fauci said the main focus is on mosquitoes.

Zika usually is transmitted through bites from the Aedes aegypti species, which is found in Florida, along the Gulf Coast, and in states that border Mexico. Dr Fauci noted that those same mosquitoes spread dengue and chikungunya, cousins of Zika, and there has been some local transmission of those viruses in recent years.

Last month, Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal wrote to President Obama to urge that he request increased funding in his Fiscal Year 2017 Budget for global public health and maternal and child health to combat the recent outbreak. Colleague Senator Chris Murphy is a co-signer of the letter.

"This funding commitment is a powerful and important step toward combating the Zika global health emergency," Sen Blumenthal said. "It should include support for research and treatment, prevention and education, and maternal and child health. The entire world community must be mobilized in this global health initiative."

Connecticut Department of Public Health Acting Commissioner Raul Pino has asked Connecticut health care providers to report suspected cases of Zika virus infection.

"Until more is known, and out of an abundance of caution, pregnant women in any trimester should consider postponing travel to the areas where Zika virus transmission is ongoing," said Dr Pino. "Pregnant women and women trying to become pregnant who do travel to one of these areas should talk to their doctor or other health care provider first and strictly follow steps to avoid mosquito bites during the trip."

According to the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, the mosquito species that is primarily responsible for transmission of Zika virus to people is not found in Connecticut.

"Closely related species are present in very low numbers and are unlikely to present a risk of Zika virus infection to people in Connecticut," said Dr Phil Armstrong, medical entomologist with the Center for Vector Biology & Zoonotic Diseases, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station.

The CDC has issued a travel notice advising people traveling to affected areas in South America, Central America, the Caribbean, or Mexico to protect themselves from mosquito bites to reduce their risk of infection with Zika virus.

As far as her Newtown constituents are concerned, Ms Culbert's biggest fear is that a local mosquito will bite an infected person carrying Zika, and will potentially pass it on as it bites others.

"So you have to have that illness, and be bitten by a mosquito - so you have to have a sick person in your community who gets bitten by a mosquito that goes on to bite a pregnant woman," Ms Culbert said. "There's no residual factor, so if a traveler is well, or you've already been sick and recovered, that person is no longer a threat."

As of February 9, federal health officials had sent the state of Florida an additional 950 kits to test for viral antibodies in people who have shown Zika symptoms after traveling to affected countries. Governor Rick Scott's office released a statement saying none of the 16 Zika cases confirmed in Florida were contracted in the state, and none involve pregnant women, and Florida now has 1,425 of the antibody test kits from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on hand.