A Hawaii resident who contracted the Zika virus while traveling in the Pacific is the first case of the mosquito-borne virus confirmed in the state so far this year, officials said Thursday.

Four Zika cases were identified in Hawaii in 2015, all of them imported cases like this one. There has been no local transmission of the disease, which has relatively mild symptoms, but has been linked to devastating birth defects.

“Because people frequently travel to areas abroad where Zika virus is present, we can expect that we may see more imported cases in the coming months,” said Dr. Virginia Pressler, director of the Health Department. “With Zika, and our current dengue outbreak, it’s important for everyone in the state to reduce mosquito-breeding areas by getting rid of standing water, and use repellent or protective clothing to prevent mosquito bites.”

The new case was an adult who fell ill on a trip and was showing symptoms upon returning to Hawaii, according to Dr. Sarah Park, state epidemiologist. The person recovered quickly and is no longer infectious. The department said it conducted an investigation and found no health risk to the public from the case.

“This person did the right thing to let their provider know they had traveled, and that helped the provider put two and two together,” Park said. “A person falling ill within two weeks of traveling should let their provider know. If the provider thinks they need to consider dengue, Zika or chikungunya, then we can act quickly.”

The medical provider alerted the Health Department in late February, she said. Vector control workers were dispatched immediately to check for mosquitoes but found no mosquito activity or breeding sites. The state laboratory confirmed this week that the case was Zika.

Zika is transmitted when a mosquito bites an infected person then passes it on someone else with the next bite. Patients are considered infectious while they have symptoms. In addition, some cases have been transmitted by men to their sexual partners, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

About 80 percent of people who come down with Zika don’t realize they have it. Symptoms can include fever, rash, joint pain, red eyes and headaches. Patients recover within a few days to a week. But the disease has prompted alarm after being linked to microcephaly, an abnormally small head, in babies whose mothers were infected.

The Health Department declined to disclose the latest patient’s age, sex or island of residence, citing privacy concerns.

“When we are talking about one individual, we generally keep that information confidential,” Park said. “With the coconut wireless, people start talking and putting things together, and it gets out of hand. We have gotten complaints in the past.”

Park reminded residents to eliminate standing water, not just in garden settings, including plants and containers, but even condensation that can collect from air conditioners.

“Entomologists have told us these mosquitoes can lay their eggs in as small as a teaspoon of water,” she said. “They don’t need a whole bucket.

“It would be helpful if everyone were already taking actions to get rid of the standing water, to make sure there are no breeding sites. Sending our vector workers out there should be a double-check, if the community is already on the ball and taking care of it.

“Even as the dengue outbreak appears to be waning, we are not out of the woods,” she stressed. “As long as we have these mosquitoes, we are always wide open. It could be a new dengue outbreak, it could be a Zika outbreak or a chikungunya outbreak.”

Since mid-September, the DOH has tallied 260 dengue cases on Hawaii island, with the onset of illness ranging from Sept. 11 to Feb. 16.

For guidance on travel, visit cdc.gov/travel/page/zika-travel-information.

For information about Zika, visit cdc.gov/zika/symptoms/index.html.