Four Connecticut residents, including one pregnant woman, have been infected by the Zika virus after traveling to Zika-affected countries. The patient and her physician have been informed of the test result. Seven of those cases are in pregnant women.
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Dr. Majid Sadigh, director of the Global Health Center at Western Connecticut Health Center, which includes Danbury and New Milford hospitals, said the travel warnings are especially important for the Danbury area because of its large South and Central American communities.
While testing and development is still taking place, the scientists said the test might be ready for use in certain clinics or laboratories within several months.
With mosquito season underway, the Department of Health created a website to help inform the public, hoping to prevent the spread of the disease this spring and summer. Zika has not been spread locally by mosquitoes in any state, according to the CDC, though lab tests have confirmed the virus in travelers.
In the new study, co-author James Collins, of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University in Boston, MA, and colleagues detail the development of a test that can detect low concentrations of Zika virus in blood or saliva. If you must travel to one of these areas, talk to your healthcare provider first and strictly follow steps to prevent mosquito bites during your trip.
“With hundreds of positive cases nationwide, I encourage residents to be vigilant”, the commissioner said. “We at the state level are monitoring the situation with the utmost diligence”, he added. In a small number of cases, it’s believed to have been sexually transmitted.
In Connecticut, 245 patients, including 217 pregnant women, have been tested for Zika virus.
So far, only two confirmed cases of the virus have popped up in Tennessee, according to the Department of Health.
It said the Zika Strategic Response Framework aims to investigate and respond to the cluster of microcephaly and other neurological complications linked to Zika virus, increase preventive measures, communicate risks, and provide care and support to those affected.
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The World Health Organization says Zika is rapidly spreading in the Americas because it is new to the region, people aren’t immune to it, and the Aedes aegypti mosquito that carries it is just about everywhere – including along the southern United States.
