A new study – done in collaboration with researchers from University of Toronto, Oxford University, Harvard Medical School, and the Ministry of Health Brazil – shows more than two billion people live in areas of the world where the virus, which has no cure, can spread.
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Dr. Edward Oldfield, an EVMS professor and infectious disease doctor, said people most at risk are women who are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant.
The state’s first case of Zika was confirmed in a 61-year-old Ingham County woman in February.
Five of the seven confirmed cases are women, two of whom are pregnant, he said.
Health officials say the man recently traveled to Haiti, where there is active mosquito-borne transmission of the disease. “The virus will likely get worse along the Gulf Coast in weeks, not months, given this week’s major flooding that will increase the area’s mosquito population”.
Dr. Anthony Fauci warned that other consequences for adults with Zika virus infection should be closely studied.
Zika virus is transmitted to people mostly through mosquito bites, but only the Aedes species are carriers.
Zika – a mosquito-carried virus which has broken out in South and Central America and the Caribbean – has been linked to the microcephaly, or the development of small brains or heads in infants if the virus is contracted by pregnant women.
The virus causes symptoms including fever, rash, joint pain, headache, muscle pain and pink eye. “Second, it can be used as a target for vaccines to locate the virus, because some antibodies will be generated by its stimulation resulting in some autoimmune diseases”.
Pregnant women or women who are considering pregnancy and have potential for exposure to Zika (from either a mosquito or a sexual partner) should seek counseling from their healthcare providers. According to the World Health Organization, 73 percent of Yap’s 11,000 or so residents were infected with Zika, but there were no neurological complications reported from the outbreak. Aedes mosquitoes, which spread viruses like dengue and chikungunya as well as Zika, are prolific and opportunistic breeders, and the skeeter prisons are only taking out about 100 each day, according to Campaign. The CDC says to wear long-sleeve shirts and trousers when working outside to avoid bites, but that’s not always realistic, especially when the temperatures really heat up come summertime.
“Because anything we can do now to prevent this disgusting disease should be done”, the release said.
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In recent news there has been talk about the Zika virus.
