“Officials from Florida participated in all these activities, and their experience in responding to mosquito-borne diseases similar to Zika, including dengue and chikungunya, has been an important source of knowledge in this effort”, the CDC said.
Advertisement
Microcephaly is a birth defect as a result of abnormal brain development and causes the baby’s head to be smaller than expected when compared to babies of the same age and sex, she said.
The New York City Health Department said Friday that the mother was infected elsewhere, while in an area known for the disease.
On Thursday, fogging trucks drove through a Miami-Dade County neighborhood where health officials are investigating a Zika diagnosis that doesn’t appear to have connection to travel outside the United States.
So far, 400 pregnant women in the continental United States have evidence of Zika infection, up from 346 from a week ago, the CDC reported on Thursday.
The Zika virus is primarily spread through bites from a specific mosquito, but can also be spread through sex.
In response, the department launched an even more aggressive social media campaign, and urged pregnant women to avoid traveling to areas with active virus transmission.
There is no vaccine for Zika.
So far, the city has reported 346 cases of Zika infections, all related to travel.
The Aedes aegypti has been seen as the main spreader of Zika.
Florida officials are rushing to investigate the singular case of Zika contracted in the US.
“It is rare to be hospitalized or experience death from the Zika virus”, Povroznik said. However, she said the state still suspects the case is not related to travel to a Zika-infected area.
Evidence of the virus in mosquitoes captured in the same areas also might help investigators declare Zika is spreading, but short of that, it might be hard to determine with certainty that mosquito transmission has occurred.
“While most people recover from the virus, it affects babies the most”, Howe-White said.
Advertisement
The CDC this week announced almost $60 million in stopgap funding to divide between states and territories for local Zika efforts, but its officials also stressed that more money is crucial. Test results on the mosquitoes trapped in Utah are expected within days, Salt Lake City Mosquito Abatement District manager Ary Faraji said.
