But health officials suspect it may be behind a surge in cases of microcephaly, a condition which causes babies to develop abnormally small brains and skulls – leading to permanent disability or death.
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Dallas County health officials confirmed a recent traveler to Venezuela infected their partner after a sexual encounter.
A worrisome development intensified concerns this week when health officials in Dallas County, Texas, reported what appears to be the first Zika case in the USA transmitted through sexual contact.
“Although Florida’s current nine Zika cases were travel-related, we have to ensure Florida is prepared and stays ahead of the spread of the Zika virus in our state”, Scott said in a statement on Thursday.
Iowa Department of Public Health Medical Director Dr. Pat Quinlisk said pregnant woman and woman who plan to be pregnant are at the highest risk.
ALVIN BAEZ/REUTERS Noriany Rivera, who is 40 weeks pregnant, touches her belly during a routine check up, as fliers explaining how to prevent Zika, Dengue and Chikungunya viruses are posted on the wall, at a public hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The zika virus has been recently declared an global emergency by the World Health Organization.
According to the CDC’s website, www.cdc.gov, prior to 2015, outbreaks of the Zika virus took place mainly in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. There is no vaccine or medicine available for Zika virus.
“We have 20,000 confirmed cases of Zika”, Gaviria told reporters outside the meeting.
Swaminathan adds this is especially important with men who may not be symptomatic. Canadian Blood Services says it is implementing the waiting period to mitigate the risk of the Zika virus entering the Canadian blood supply. The Zika virus is suspected to cause microcephaly in newborn children. The virus was first identified in Uganda in 1947 in rhesus monkeys and was first identified in people in 1952 in Uganda and Tanzania, according to the World Health Organisation.
But here in Oklahoma, the Asian tiger mosquito lives through our winter may also carry the virus. The travel advisory the CDC issued last month warned pregnant women and women who planned on getting pregnant to delay traveling to affected countries, and several airlines offered refunds for plane tickets pregnant women purchased. Our advice, therefore, is that people should travel with caution, use mosquito nets and repellents. Travelers with fever, rash, joint pain and pink eye will want to protect against bites for one to two weeks after returning.
However, Monaghan earlier this year presented a paper to the American Meteorological Society’s annual convention that predicts that eventually Aedes aegypti “will move northward in the US due to future warming, which would expose people to the mosquito on a regular seasonal basis in states like Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia and D.C”.
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The Pennsylvania Health Department’s website says there are eight valid tests underway for the Zika Virus: zero positive, 1 negative and 7 are pending.
