According to Touraine, 18 cases of the Zika virus have been reported in travelers from France’s overseas territories including Martinique and Guadeloupe located in the Caribbean.
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She also advised pregnant women to inform the authorities if they had traveled to any Zika-hit areas.
At its meeting held this week the WHO’s International Health Regulations Emergency Committee on the Zika Virus concluded that the outbreak of the Zika virus is a Public Health Emergency of International Concern but saw no health justification to restrict travel and trade in areas affected by the virus.
As Australia prepares for more potential cases, here is everything you need to know about the virus that has been linked to deformities in newborn babies.
What is the history of the Zika virus?
Colombia has confirmed the first three deaths from the Zika virus.
“Unless mitigated, climate change is likely to bring the spread of new emergent infectious diseases like Zika virus”, Nick Watts, who leads a commission on health and climate change for the medical journal The Lancet, said during the call.
Subramaniam said those travelling from these countries should voluntarily do so as health screenings were not sufficient to detect the Zika virus. However, no recent research has been conducted specifically to find if the Zika virus still exists in African mosquitoes.
“But I guess the AOC and the International Olympic Committee will be taking this threat seriously and they will do their best to keep us safe”, Fox said.
CDC officials now recommend that pregnant U.S. women consider postponing trips to 22 destinations namely Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Paraguay, Suriname, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, and Venezuela.
“It’s certainly on my mind”, Newport Mayor David Stewart said when asked about the Zika virus. This is a condition where infants have abnormally small heads and often have underdeveloped brains.
He said that calls for pregnant women to take special precautions, and suggested they avoid kissing people other than a regular partner or sharing cutlery, glasses and plates with people who have symptoms of the virus.
In one case in Dallas, Texas, the virus is believed to have been transmitted through sexual contact from an infected traveler to a partner.
The Fiocruz team studied samples from two patients who showed symptoms of Zika and tested positive for the illness.
People can protect themselves from mosquito bites by wearing long-sleeved shirts and long trousers, using EPA-registered insect repellents, using permethrin-treated clothing, staying and sleeping in screened-in or air-conditioned rooms and avoiding or limiting outdoor activities during peak mosquito times. For most people who catch the virus, it causes mild or no symptoms.
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Some mosquitoes pass the Zika virus around. Researchers have identified evidence of Zika infection in 17 of these cases, either in the baby or in the mother, but have not confirmed that Zika can cause microcephaly. In addition, a man has also been diagnosed with Zika and has developed a rare paralysis syndrome sometimes associated with viral or bacterial infection.
