Texas confirmed six travel-related cases of Zika virus in the state as of Friday night, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
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The figures confirm that the province of Norte de Santander, bordering on Venezuela, continues to have the most cases of pregnant women infected with Zika, or 37.2 percent of the total. “We don’t know what the real risk is”.
Lee Suy said the “rest of the universe is really preparing on this because the threat is there for all countries”.
The World Health Organization is holding an emergency meeting on the outbreak on Monday. All three samples came from people who had recently traveled to countries where the Zika virus is widespread.
Gregory Taylor, Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, said Canadians at home shouldn’t be concerned.
Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that causes fever. “The Aedes mosquito is very prevalent here and patients, who have travelled overseas and returned with dengue-like symptoms, will be observed”, he added. When pregnant women contract the virus, it seems to put their babies at greater risk of microcephaly, a condition that includes smaller-than-normal skulls, stunted development and sometimes death. Sexual transmission of Zika virus may have occurred (a single probable case reported), and in a limited number of cases, the virus has been shown to be present in semen. 20% of people who become ill might have fever for a maximum of one week, skin rash, conjunctivitis, joint pain and headache. However, there is ongoing risk to Ontarians travelling to regions affected with Zika virus.
“Do not expect the government to be the one doing the cleaning in your area”. The alert was put out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is a level two, which doesn’t restrict travel, but asks travelers to follow enhanced precautions. Doctors say to their knowledge, none of the four cases in Canada involve pregnant women. There could be explosive consequences were the Zika virus transmitted to India.
“In most people, there are no symptoms at all”, she said about the virus.
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The virus lacks any preventive vaccine and cure.
