More than 150 pregnant women in the United States and another 122 in US territories, primarily Puerto Rico, have tested positive for infection with the Zika virus, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
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A spokesman for Mercy Hospital in Miami said virtually all US hospitals are following the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance on Zika.
Among the 157 pregnant women from USA states and the District of Columbia who are being monitored, only 49 percent reported symptoms consistent with Zika – mostly rash and fever. The new numbers include all pregnant women who have had laboratory confirmation of a Zika infection regardless of whether they had symptoms or not. There are two tracking systems, one for women in the continental US, and one for women in Puerto Rico.
He said sequencing of the virus in Cabo Verde by Institut Pasteur, Dakar confirms that the Zika virus now circulating in Cabo Verde is the same as the one circulating in the Americas – the Asian type- and was most likely imported from Brazil.
Previously, the center was counting only the number of women who had both laboratory and symptomatic evidence.
Paskewitz is working with local health officials to trap mosquitos to see if any carry the Zika virus. This new way of reporting the numbers of infected women aligns with recommendations for ongoing monitoring of pregnancies at risk for poor outcomes associated with Zika virus infection, based on scientists’ current understanding of the effects of the Zika virus during pregnancy.
Legacy is now treating a pregnant patient who contracted the virus in El Salvador. She would not say if any women had given birth.
Zika is spread mainly through the bite of a tropical mosquito called Aedes aegypti, but there’s no evidence that they’ve been spreading the virus in the US yet.
The mosquito-borne virus, spread out by two species of Aedes mosquito, usually triggers mild, flu-like symptoms, such as fever, joint pain, rashes and red eyes.
A United Kingdom researcher said the Zika virus has been circulating at low levels in African countries for more than 50 years. “It is not something that we have to panic about, but it is something that we need to take seriously”. “It needs to get me a bill that has sufficient funds to do the job”, noting that health officials monitoring the disease requested the money.
The White House threatened to veto separate legislation in the House and Senate over insufficient funding to combat the virus.
And Obama said that cost is modest in comparison to the human and financial toll of caring for the babies born with smaller heads because of microcephaly, a birth defect linked to Zika.
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“Bottom line is Congress needs to get me a bill”.
