The Zika outbreak comes as Singapore prepares to host the floodlit Formula One Singapore Grand Prix motor-race on Septemebr 18.
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Perak Health Department director Datuk Dr Juita Ghazalie said the scanning began yesterday, and the method of detection would be reviewed later this month.
With the added variable of Zika, it’s more important than ever that pregnant women keep up with their prenatal care and undergo screenings for the virus, Harrison said.
Hong Kong authorities have issued an “amber” travel warning for Singapore in view of the country’s Zika situation after the nation-state saw its number of locally transmitted cases rise to 151 on Thursday.
As of August 26, the CDC had made more than $193 million in funds available to fight the virus. But, he added, if another cluster of Zika cases occurs in Florida, or if there is an outbreak in a second state, the agency would not be able to send emergency funds, according to The Times.
While the Zika virus is mild and non-fatal to the general population, she said it can pose a danger to babies in the womb.
“If Zika immunity is widespread, introduced Zika will fizzle out fast”, Derek Gatherer of Lancaster University said in a comment on the study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
Senate Republicans have scheduled a vote on $1.1 billion in Zika funding for next Tuesday, when Congress comes back into session, according to a spokesman for Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky. The news stands in contrast to some media reports which speculated that some participants at the games would be at risk.
The CDC reports there are 2,517 reported cases of Zika in the USA, including 584 pregnant women. Zika is mostly spread by a specific species of tropical mosquito, but it can also be spread by sex and through blood transfusions.
“The way the government of Singapore has handled the outbreak in Singapore really represents in many cases a role model. remembering that the first case was only confirmed really just a little over a week ago”, he said.
Countries with large volumes of travellers arriving from Zika virus-affected areas of the Americas and large populations at risk include India (67,422 travellers arriving per year), China (23,8415 travellers), Indonesia (13,865 travellers), the Philippines (35635 travellers), and Thailand (29,241 travellers).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have warned pregnant women against travelling to Miami as the virus can cause birth defects.
As the outbreak spreads, many of Singapore’s five million people are covering up and staying indoors to avoid mosquitoes as health experts warn that virus in the tropical city-state would be hard to contain.
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This Q & A will tell you what you need to know about Zika.
