Though India has been free of the virus for nearly 60 years, it could be exposed via people travelling from the more affected Western Hemisphere. But the risk is far greater for pregnant women because of a possible link to a birth defect.
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Brazil has reported multiple cases of hydroencephaly and other poor pregnancy outcomes in women infected with the Zika virus. Pregnant women who have traveled to these areas should consult their physician immediately.
“It is to our advantage that we already have existing vaccine platforms to use as a sort of jumping off point”, he said, mentioning two avenues of study based on prior research into West Nile and dengue vaccines. However, most cases were mild, resulting in rash, fever, and red eyes in a small fraction of cases.
Here are some questions and answers about the virus and the current outbreak.
While the mosquito that carries the virus, Aedes aegypti, is common in South Florida, Schuchat said several factors in the United States work in our favor: US urban areas are less densely populated, air-conditioning is more widespread and mosquito control efforts are generally stronger.
It is spread by mosquitoes not native to Canada. In this vaccine, a piece of Zika’s genetic structure would be inserted into another harmless virus, and used to prompt an immune response.
There is no vaccine against Zika, which top USA health authorities described Thursday as a “brand new” virus that has expanded swiftly in recent years and been linked to brain damage in babies. Zika virus is believed to cause neurological problems like microcephaly, a condition of abnormally small head in babies.
Aylward said it would take six to nine months to confirm whether Zika was the actual cause of the birth defects or if the two were just associated.
No locally transmitted Zika cases have been reported in Georgia or anywhere in the United States, but cases have been reported in returning travelers. An estimated 80 percent of people infected have no symptoms.
All cases have been from people who have traveled to a country where mosquitoes are carrying the Zika virus.
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, the risk to Canadians is low, as mosquitoes known to transmit the virus are not established in Canada and are not well-suited to our climate.
The CDC does not know whether a future pregnancy would be at risk if a woman is bitten by an infected mosquito now and gets pregnant later.
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Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said Friday that he doesn’t think U.S. airports need to screen travellers arriving from nations with Zika cases. 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 WHO.
