Neither of the women were pregnant.
Advertisement
Brazil’s Health Ministry says it’s now recorded 4,120 suspected cases of microcephaly, a rare brain defect in babies that officials fear may be linked to the spread of the mosquito-borne Zika virus.
The virus can cause microcephaly, or abnormal smallness of the head, in infants whose mothers are infected by the disease.
However, a recent study in The Lancet suggests that Zika virus could reach regions of the United States in which 60 percent of the population lives, or some 200 million Americans. “Alarmed would not be the right language”, Aylward told reporters. Both partners provided blood samples that later tested positive for the virus.
While people in the USA have been diagnosed with the disease, they have all been travelers who likely got the virus while outside the country.
The virus was first identified in a monkey in Africa in 1947.
A USA health official says he doubts the United States is vulnerable to a widespread outbreak of a virus linked to a wave of birth defects in Brazil.
How do I know if I have it? To date, very few cases have occurred in Europe. There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika, a close cousin of dengue and chikungunya, which causes mild fever and rash.
There is no cure at present for Zika, which usually appears as a mild fever with temporary body aches.
The birth defect can be caused by factors such as genetics, malnutrition or drugs. But the rate of recorded microcephaly cases was only a fraction of what some experts thought it ought to be.
Chan highlighted the growing concern over Zika’s possible link to microcephaly and a neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome.
Most patients recover, but the syndrome is sometimes deadly.
There are reports the other person from BC had returned from Columbia. As many as 12 babies have recently died in the state because of the condition.
A municipal agent at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The strategies and specific tactics in preparation for the Zika pandemic are specified in the Zika webpage of the Pan American Health Organization, which is the regional office for the Americas of the World Health Organization.
Zika is transmitted by the bite of Aedes mosquitoes, which is found in all of the Americas, apart from Chile and Canada. “The public will demand well-funded, proactive leadership from the World Health Organization”. And many counties and other municipalities spray to kill mosquitoes and are vigilant in trying to eliminate pools of standing water where the insects can breed.
Authorities in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador and Jamaica have advised couples to avoid pregnancy for the time being.
“Last year, the virus was detected in the Americas, where it is now spreading explosively”. Brazil has been the hardest hit. Nine years ago, new cases popped up in islands in the Pacific Ocean. A woman in Hawaii gave birth to a baby with microcephaly after traveling to Brazil.
Advertisement
A newborn in Hawaii was the first reported case of the virus in the USA, according to the CDC. The agency said it could be many years before a vaccine is available and it might take six to nine months before there’s any data showing a causal relationship between Zika and the babies born with malformed heads.
