Most people infected with the Zika virus don’t become ill and those who do have symptoms that may include fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention says.
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It has registered and is monitoring 157 pregnant women in USA states and the District of Columbia, and 122 pregnant women in US territories-mostly Puerto Rico-who were infected with Zika through May 12.
Not a single person is known to have contracted Zika from a mosquito bite in the U.S. They’ve gotten it while traveling to a country where Zika is endemic, or they’ve contracted it sexually from a male partner who’s traveled to one of those areas.
That’s a jump from its previous report of 48 cases in pregnant women in the continental United States and 65 cases in USA territories.
Over 150 pregnant women in the United States appear to have been infected with Zika virus. But this number only covers pregnant women and doesn’t mention women infected with Zika that are not pregnant. Numerous 279 pregnant women being monitored by the CDC are still pregnant and so the outcomes of their infection aren’t clear at this time. But officials say recent research suggests that women do not necessarily have to have symptoms to have their pregnancies affected.
The CDC’s added that their “top priority for the Zika response is to protect pregnant women and their fetuses”.
“At our southwest clinic, we see 300 pregnant women a day, a lot of them do travel at some point to Latin America”.
Obama said the funding request was a “pretty modest investment” in the attempt to curb the spread of the virus in the U.S. It is not something that we have to panic about, but it is something we have to take seriously. But never before has one virus caused such severe birth defects and pregnancy complications.
In Brazil, 1,271 babies have been born with unusually small heads and deformed brains since the outbreak of Zika began there past year. The CDC could not provide an exact number, however, on how many of these 279 women were still pregnant and how many were no longer pregnant for any reason.
The higher number reflects changes in reporting criteria rather than a sudden increase in United States zika cases. So CDC had only reported some of the cases of pregnant women with Zika.
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U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Okeechobee, was among the 14 Florida Republicans who supported the House plan, calling it “the most fiscally responsible and transparent way for us to immediately fight Zika without recklessly spending taxpayer dollars”.
