SAN JOSE, Feb. 22 -- Costa Rica's health ministry on Monday reported the country's first confirmed endemic case of the Zika virus, detected in a 24-year-old pregnant woman.

In a press release, health officials said the woman, a resident of Nicoya, a city in Guanacaste province that is located 200 km west of the capital San Jose, was 38 weeks into her pregnancy.

"The reported case corresponds to a woman aged 24, pregnant and a resident of...Nicoya, Guanacaste," the ministry said.

"She showed symptoms and consulted a local (health clinic), where they suspected the disease and immediately took steps and notified the health authorities to carry out a test," the ministry said.

The detection of the endemically-transmitted case of the virus, which is suspected of causing birth defects, prompted officials to declare a health emergency in the region, where another five suspected cases of Zika infection have been reported.

While the woman's fetus shows no signs of microcephaly, or an abnormally small head, a condition linked to the virus, she has been categorized as "high risk" and is being monitored.

Prior to this latest case, Costa Rica has reported only two confirmed cases of Zika infection, both involving foreign travel or a foreign national: a Costa Rican who was infected in Colombia and a Honduran who was in the country a few days on business.

Following the rapid spread of the virus in Latin America late last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global public health emergency.

Zika is a virus transmitted by the Aedes mosquito. It was first discovered in 1947 in the Zika forest of Uganda.

The virus "is usually relatively mild," and is believed to pose a threat mainly to unborn babies, though scientists have yet to definitively confirm that link.