The diagnostic test, developed by the CDC, will be used by a public health laboratory on the Mercer County campus of the New Jersey State Police.
New Jersey now has an in-state laboratory capable of testing medical specimens for the presence of the Zika virus, state health officials announced Monday.
The lab, located on the grounds of the State Police headquarters in West Trenton, began testing samples last week, according to the N.J. Department of Health.
"The ability to test residents for Zika and similar viruses will further enhance New Jersey's preparedness and response to this evolving health emergency unfolding in the Caribbean and Central and South Americas," Acting Health Commissioner Cathleen Bennett said. "We continue working every day to prevent local transmission as mosquito season approaches in New Jersey."
So far there have been no reports of Zika cases in the mainland United States that were transmitted by a mosquito. However, there have been more than 500 known cases of travelers acquiring the infection in another country, then displaying symptoms after a return to the United States.
Fifteen of those travel-related cases are in New Jersey.
The virus causes an illness that for most people is so mild they barely notice it. However, in pregnant women it can lead to brain abnormalities in the fetus, as well as miscarriages and stillbirths.
While the virus was first identified decades ago in Africa, its recent arrival in South America as well as the South Pacific has produced a crop of babies with deformed skulls - a condition called microcephly - in Brazil, where the new risk was first identified.
As cases of the virus continued to crop up through Central and South America, the CDC rushed to develop a way to test for its antibodies. A test was authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use at the end of February.
While the main type of mosquito that spreads the virus from person to person isn't widely seen in New Jersey, the CDC recently announced that its natural turf was far wider than originally thought - and could include the Garden State.
The state has also established a special Zika hotline for people who have questions about their exposure to it: 1-800-962-1253. It is run by the Department of Health along with the New Jersey Poison Information and Education System.
The New Jersey New Jersey Public Health and Environmental Laboratories can perform three diagnostic, Zika tests developed by the CDC to detect the virus and differentiate it from similar illnesses. The West Trenton facility can also test for two other disease-causing viruses transmitted by mosquitoes: dengue and chikungunya.
Kathleen O'Brien may be reached at kobrien@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @OBrienLedger. Find NJ.com on Facebook.