“It needs to get me a bill that has sufficient funds to do the job”, he said. “They come inside of our house, they bite us when we are going to go to sleep, they bite us again when we get up”.
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Zika virus infection has been associated with miscarriage as well as birth defects like unusually small brains, called microcephaly.
The CDC on Friday reported that it is monitoring 279 pregnant women living in US states and its territories who have shown laboratory evidence of a possible Zika infection.
Dr. Margaret Honein, chief of the CDC’s birth defects branch, said the agency is aware of “less than a dozen” pregnancies that have had complications, but since numerous pregnancies are still ongoing, birth defects could be seen after the births of the babies.
“Both of these systems include pregnant women with any laboratory evidence of possible Zika virus infection, with or without symptoms”, said Denise Jamieson, the co-leader on the CDC’s Pregnancy and Birth Defects Team, part of its Zika Virus Response Team. 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. The webpage was last updated on May 18, so it is important to know that it has most likely not been updated with the new numbers of infected pregnant women. Miami-Dade County has the highest number of confirmed cases in the state with 46 cases, Broward is second with 17 cases.
According to the Department of Health, Ireland’s environmental conditions “do not support the natural reservoirs or vectors of the Zika virus” (ie mosquitos) and as a result the risk of transmission is considered low.
“This is not something we can build a wall to prevent. Mosquitoes don’t go through customs”, Obama said.
Obama met with Vice President Biden, Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell, Director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci and Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tom Frieden. It is also increasing its testing capacity, as mosquito season in the summer months approaches.
The Senate on Thursday approved its $1.1 billion plan to combat the Zika virus.
President Obama said, “Congress needs to get me a bill”.
“We take samples and those samples are sent to Trinidad, to the Caribbean Public Health Agency for confirmation”.
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He has criticised the US Congress for failing to back his request for $US1.9 billion for vaccine development, faster diagnostic tests, and new tools for killing the mosquitoes that carry the virus. “We don’t have the luxury of time, we have to act now”.
