Local health officials are aggressively monitoring the distribution of aedes albopictus, a species of mosquito which can transmit Zika virus. There have been no cases of Zika acquired in the United State so far.
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Ohio Department of Health Medical Director Mary DiOrio says that Zika is a reportable disease in Ohio.
As of Thursday, 227 people in Florida have been diagnosed with Zika, including 40 pregnant women, according to the state Department of Health.
Wednesday, a Senate committee, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, held a hearing on the hazards of the Zika virus and what government can do to prevent the spread. The other OH case was sexually transmitted from one of those people.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded Arkansas $308,005 as part of $25 million in funding to states, cities, and territories to support efforts to protect Americans from Zika virus infection and associated adverse health outcomes, including microcephaly and the other serious birth defects. Scott’s instructions are in line with CDC guidelines to use the money for training, mosquito surveillance, and the purchase of Zika prevention kits.
This Zika-specific funding is in addition to the emergency preparedness funding that the CDC has awarded. It is a cause of severe fetal brain defects and microcephaly, and the virus has also been linked to Guillain-Barré syndrome, an uncommon illness in which a person’s immune system damages the nerve cells, causing muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis.
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Ulster County Health and Mental Health Commissioner Dr. Carol Smith said the Zika virus will be the topic of discussion this Sunday during the county’s new “Healthy Ulster Radio” program, which will air at 7:30 a.m. on WBPM-FM 92.9 and at 8:30 a.m. on WGHQ-AM 920, WBNR-AM 1260 and WLNA-AM. The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). There have also been four pregnancy losses in the US involving Zika and one in the USA territory of Puerto Rico, the agency said.
