The concern is not the disease itself, Zika’s immediate effects are mild, consisting mostly of a moderate fever and a rash, and only a fifth of those afflicted notice any symptoms.
Advertisement
Although the link has not been scientifically proven and myriad questions remain, Castro said the half-year gap between the virus outbreak in South America’s largest country and the spike in reported cases of microcephaly was not a coincidence.
Health officials say severe Zika illness requiring hospitalization is uncommon. After that, scientists will look for antibodies that the body makes to defend against the virus, but it is hard to distinguish those caused by Zika from those caused by dengue, chikungunya or yellow fever, all viruses are from the same family.
State health officials have confirmed Maryland’s first case of the Zika virus.
Some athletes, including those on the USA women’s soccer team, have raised concerns about the virus spreading in the Olympic stadiums.
Kieny said that different types of possible vaccines – such as live or killed virus, or use of DNA vaccines – may lead to differences in timing on development, but developers “are all starting at a very basic level for the time being”.
Health officials say Zika virus is primarily transmitted to people through the bite of an infected mosquito.
“We’re all steep on this terrible learning curve”, said Elizabeth Talbot, a physician and infectious diseases expert at Dartmouth College’s Geisel School of Medicine.
“Travel is part of our lives and it’s the way we become part of our viewers’ lives, but we just have to be smart about it”, said Cesar Sabroso, senior vice president/marketing for the Coral Gables-based company, which brings viewers across Latin America and Brazil channels such as A&E, History, H2, and Lifetime.
Kristin Weivoda, Yolo County’s emergency medical services administrator, would not disclose the identity or sex of the infected person or where he or she had traveled to.
But, Duffy said, “There wasn’t any indication at that point about the fetal anomalies or Guillain-Barre syndrome”, a neurological disorder often associated with viral infections.
Scientific efforts, including case investigations and ecological research, already are underway to close the knowledge gap on Zika, the World Health Organization reported.
The confirmation comes after a pregnant woman in the northern state of Queensland was diagnosed on Tuesday with the virus suspected of causing a surge in brain-damaged babies in Brazil.
Gov. Rick Scott’s office announced that the conference call is scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Sixteen cases have been identified in Florida so far, all acquired outside the country and none involving pregnant women.
“We may see rapid spread through the island and we need to respond urgently”, Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told a Senate appropriations subcommittee. “We have confidence in that recommendation”.
Advertisement
“Maybe they’re not always simple”, she said, “but they are effective”.
