The Zika virus on the minds of many after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday the virus is scarier than they initially thought.
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While health experts don’t anticipate widespread outbreaks in the continental United States, Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said “we absolutely need to be ready”.
The Aedes aegypti mosquito that carries the Zika virus is present in 30 states, more than twice what officials originally thought, Dr Schuchat said, though no locally acquired cases have been reported yet.
Meanwhile in Brazil, which is considered ground zero in the fight against the Zika virus and where scientists have made alarming discoveries about its impact on humans, researchers on Tuesday said they discovered additional brain diseases linked to the outbreak. “If we don’t get the money that the president has asked for, we’re not going to be able to take it to the point where we’ve actually accomplished what we need to do”.
In the light of the danger, health officials once again called on the Congress to issue about $1.9 billion in emergency funding.
Unfortunately, America’s fight against the Zika virus and the mosquitoes that transport them may not be enough.
“Most of what we’re learning is not reassuring”. Microcephaly is a birth defect in which babies are born with abnormally small heads. Of the 354 cases in the domains, just three are travel-related, and 37 included pregnant ladies.
The administration says the US$1.9 billion will be used to beef up our ability to diagnose Zika, get rid of mosquito breeding grounds, track the disease throughout the country and develop a vaccine. Dr. Fauci also told the American news channel that funds from tuberculosis and malaria are also being redirected toward the study of the Zika virus.
Treatment – There is no vaccine to prevent or medicine to treat Zika virus.
Zika has been linked to microcephaly, a birth defect and as of this week, the CDC saying it maybe responsible for other pregnancy complications such as premature births and eye problems.
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While many area residents we spoke with say they’re not anxious about taking precautions to try and avoid the Zika Virus, McQuerry says why not be safe than sorry. And now researchers say unborn babies may be at risk throughout the mother’s pregnancy, not just in the first trimester. Puerto Rico is of big concerns to the CDC with a large mosquito vector there, that effects hundreds of thousands of people.
