The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said there is no evidence of the virus being acquired in a member state and that imported cases are “rare”.
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Levine suggested travelers planning to leave the country this winter for warmer climates check health travel advisories and urged pregnant women in particular to avoid Zika-affected countries.
Zika is a mosquito-spread virus related to yellow fever and West Nile virus.
According to the CDC, the “most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain, or conjunctivitis (red eyes)”. The illness is usually mild, with symptoms lasting from several days to a week.
The guidelines come after thousands of infants in Brazil were born with microcephaly, which was believed to be linked to Zika infections.
The disease has been spread from mosquitos carrying the virus from person to person. Johnston said there are things you can do to protect yourself from mosquito bites, like wearing long trousers and sleeves and eliminating standing water where mosquitoes can breed.
The Arkansas Department of Health announced Tuesday that the state’s first case of Zika has been discovered.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says there is a possible association between Zika virus in pregnant woman and birth defects.
“Arkansas residents traveling to Central or South America or the Caribbean, where Zika is present, should take precautions against mosquitoes”.
The United Airlines offer began Tuesday and includes any country covered by a CDC travel notice, an airline spokesman said.
Brazil’s health minister Marcelo Castro said that almost 220,000 members of Brazil’s Armed Forces would go door-to-door to help in mosquito eradication efforts ahead of the country’s Carnival celebrations.
No cases have been reported in Kansas, but Hunt said the state received a few calls from physicians who had questions about the virus or wanted more information about testing. “For the women involved that is very, very serious”, said Dr. Tony Fauci, head of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
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Women who think they may be pregnant in the weeks before travelling to the Olympics in Brazil later this year should consider abandoning their trip because of the risks posed by the Zika virus to their unborn child, a senior scientist has warned.
