Widespread local transmission already is occurring in Puerto Rico, however, and officials expect that about 20 percent of the island’s 3.5 million residents could become infected.
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Public health leaders say residents should take extra precautions against the mosquito-borne illness by avoiding mosquito bites and reducing habitats where mosquitoes live and breed.
On Thursday, the agency released a correction to its guidance for preventing sexual transmission of Zika.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has concluded that women living in areas where Zika is present should consider delaying pregnancy until there is more known about the virus or a vaccine is discovered.
In Missouri, there is now a total of 4 cases of Zika from people who traveled out of the country.
“It’s not saying they should delay”. The meetings are designed “to hear what they are doing to stay prepared and ask about additional needs they have”, said Lauren Schenone, Deputy Press Secretary.
It slowly spread to several other countries across South and Central America. Millions of couples will be affected with advice of WHO. According to the CDC, babies with microcephaly often have smaller head sizes and brains that might not have developed properly.
There is no vaccine. But Zika also can be spread through unprotected sex with a man who was infected. For people who visit countries where the virus is circulating, the World Health Organization recommends couples to wait at least eight weeks before trying to conceive.
State health officials say there are two more confirmed cases of the Zika virus in Missouri. About one in five people who are infected will develop a fever with other symptoms.
Yesterday, CDC Director Tom Frieden made another plea for Congress to quickly provide funding needed to battle Zika.
“Zika infection is more unsafe, and Brazil’s outbreak more extensive, than scientists reckoned a short time ago”, Attaran wrote.
Zika is expected to make its way into the United States by the summer.
As of May 25, there were 591 Zika cases reported in the US, including 16 in MA, all of them associated with travel or relations with travelers, according to the USA agency based in Atlanta.
Though Congress has not yet fully funded President Obama’s emergency request for $1.9 billion to prepare a response to the Zika virus, Sen. Last month, the Senate approved a $1.1 billion measure while the House passed a separate $622 provision that requires the money to be siphoned from unspent funds to fight the Ebola virus. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article.
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