The virus is suspected of causing an epidemic that started last spring in Brazil, where there have been more than 5,600 suspected or confirmed cases of microcephaly.
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NEW YORK (AP) – Nearly 200 cases of Zika infection have been reported in the USA – all traced to travel overseas.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said in announcing the case Friday the person had traveled to a country which has “local Zika virus transmission”.
Until Zika, “there has never been a mosquito-borne virus that could cause serious defects on a such a large scale”, Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Thursday during a conference call with reporters. Because symptoms of the virus can mimic the flu, those who have traveled to endemic countries should visit their doctor and request being tested for Zika, Gupta said.
According to the CDC, the virus also has been reported in at least 31 other states. “The geographic spread of the disease is greater, because the risk groups are bigger and the fact that it can be sexually transmitted as well as by being bitten by an infected mosquito ” , said WHO Director-General Margaret Chan in Geneva. Only one out of every five people infected with Zika show any symptoms, and even those who fall ill usually do not suffer severe symptoms, USA health officials have said. For those who become ill, the most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes).
Mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus would have a long migration north to reach Minnesota, but the risk of illness is still having a slight impact on travelers flying south.
“Puerto Rico is on the frontline of the battle against Zika”, said Frieden, who just returned from the island.
Sparks advises anyone traveling to those countries to take measures to avoid mosquito bites.
A female Aedes aegypti mosquito, a carrier of the Zika virus, feeds on human blood. But the unexpected numbers of birth defects in Zika outbreak areas of Brazil have raised alarms. The ministry declined to reveal her nationality or whether the woman was pregnant or not.
Pregnant women can be infected with Zika virus in any trimester and there have been increased cases of microcephaly possibly associated with Zika virus infections.
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The CDC has put out guidance related to the sexual transmission of the Zika virus.
