Third Zika case confirmed in New York

A third case of the Zika virus has been confirmed in the Big Apple — in a pregnant woman who contracted the mosquito-borne infection while traveling overseas.

City health officials, after revealing the new case Thursday, sought to calm fears by emphasizing that there’s no risk of acquiring the virus in the five boroughs.

The sickened New Yorkers all returned from countries in the Caribbean and Latin America struggling to contend with the rapidly escalating Zika outbreak. The mosquitoes suspected of carrying the disease are not found in New York, officials said.

A total of six people in New York State have contracted the virus overseas. The three others hail from Nassau, Orange and Monroe counties, officials said. The disease, which is believed to cause newborns to have unusually small heads and abnormal brain development, poses a special risk to pregnant women.

The Centers for Disease Control is advising pregnant women to avoid traveling to roughly two dozen destinations in the Caribbean, Central America and South America.

But most people who contract the disease don’t require hospitalization.

The new city tally was released as international health officials warned that up to 4 million people across the Americas could be infected with the Zika virus over the next year.

World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan said the virus is “spreading explosively.”

“The level of alarm is extremely high,” Chan said.

“Arrival of the virus in some cases has been associated with a steep increase in the birth of babies with abnormally small heads.”

“The possible links, only recently suspected, have rapidly changed the risk profile of Zika from a mild threat to one of alarming proportions,” Chan added.