The pupae of genetically modified Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are seen through the lens of a microscope.
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The virus is spread by mainly by one species of mosquito that don’t exist in OR or Washington.
Cuba has yet to spot a case of Zika, but the country is now moving one step ahead in the fight against the mosquito-borne virus.
After showing symptoms, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ran lab tests confirming the traveler was infected with Zika.
New guidelines have been developed for evaluation and testing of infants and children with possible Zika virus infection. “The next step will be to do case-control studies to estimate the potential risk of microcephaly after Zika virus infection during pregnancy, other fetal or neonatal complications, and long-term outcomes for infected symptomatic and asymptomatic neonates”.
Only two cases of “perinatal” (during delivery) infection of a newborn with the Zika virus have been reported so far, the CDC noted.
The man recently traveled to the South Pacific before returning to Washington, the Washington State Department of Health revealed.
“Having the data at this point in time are very critically important for understanding the impact Zika might be having in the future and as it spreads in the region”, says J. Erin Staples, a CDC medical officer leading the CDC team in Brazil. The illness is usually mild, and about 80 percent of people with the virus don’t have symptoms, the health department said.
A study to determine whether the Zika virus is causing babies to be born with the birth defect microephaly began in Brazil Monday.
With spring break approaching, students are highly encouraged to check travel advisories for their destinations.
“Scientists are increasingly confident that Zika is causing microcephaly, but people may have different judgments about how much proof is enough”, Dr. Anne Schuchat, a top CDC official, told reporters in Brazil on Friday, according to Reuters.
As the virus spreads rapidly through Central and South America, Mexico and the Caribbean, public health officials in the United States and overseas have scrambled to learn more about the long-term effects and transmission of Zika. Brazil has signed an agreement with a Texas research hospital to develop a vaccine against the Zika virus, Castro said Thursday, adding the goal is for the vaccine to be ready for clinical testing within 12 months.
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“That seems to be the more-likely scenario”, he said.
