But Hasbro children’s hospital infectious disease specialist Michael Smit, MD says it’s too early to panic about that kind of outbreak in North America.
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So far there have been no transmissions of the disease within the United States.
Health Minister Luisana Melo said Thursday on state television that 4,700 suspected cases of Zika have been recorded in Venezuela.
“The Zika fever is a mosquito-borne viral disease caused by the Zika virus (ZIKV), which manifests itself with moderate fever, skin rash, headaches, joints and muscle pain or soreness, fatigue, red eyes”.
In South-East Asia, sporadic cases have been detected in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, East Malaysia and Thailand in recent years. The Zika virus is a mosquito-borne illness.
New figures from Brazil’s Health Ministry show that the Zika virus outbreak has not caused as many confirmed cases of a rare brain defect as first feared.
The newspaper also mentioned a second case from 2008, in which a U.S. biologist was infected with Zika while in Senegal collecting mosquitoes for a malaria study. Otherwise, the symptoms are usually mild or non-existent. But there’s mounting evidence linking it to a birth defect, especially in Brazil.
Public health officials say the risk for Canadians is low and limited to those who travel or live in regions where the virus is circulating. Last year Zika virus affected people in Brazil for the first time and has now spread across Brazil and to 22 other countries in the region.
The mosquito Aedes Aegypti as seen through a microscope.
“An estimated 80 per cent of people infected have no symptoms”.
“The ministry is in the process of issuing a travel advisory which will among other issues will advise pregnant women against travelling to affected countries”. Dr. Michael Koufman said.
If a person is infected, do they have the virus forever?
“The government, churches, football teams, labor unions … everyone must do their part to eliminate the breeding grounds”, she said.
The aim was to release only male Aedes mosquitoes into the wild and they would in turn produce offspring with their virus carrying female counterparts.
Rousseff announced the offensive against the mosquito following a videoconference with five Brazilian state governors and six Cabinet members.
Today, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer warned women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant to consider cancelling those travel plans.
The WHO expects the virus to spread to every country in the Americas except Canada and Chile.
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Khan isn’t holding out hope that a Zika vaccine will arrive soon. Though the virus is thought to only be seriously harmful to pregnant women because of the effect it can have on fetuses, many are wondering: if the virus can harm unborn babies, can the Zika virus harm toddlers?
