New CDC research also allows for longer testing periods for pregnant women, who may show signs of the Zika virus.
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As of July 22, SC has had 23 travel-associated cases of Zika virus; 22 were in travelers infected overseas and diagnosed after they returned home. As of Monday, Florida had 358 travel-related Zika cases, including 48 cases involving pregnant women regardless of symptoms, second in the country after NY. But with a mosquito species prevalent in South Florida primarily responsible for the spread of the Zika virus, officials are emphasizing protection against insects more than ever. It is likely to spread to all countries in the Americas except for Canada and Chile, the World Health Organization has said. With Zika particularly widespread in Brazil and the Rio Olympics due to start next week, people are understandably anxious about travelling to the Games.
The visit came as two non-travel-related Zika cases are being investigated in South Florida.
These countries were named as the Dominican Republic (four cases), Colombia, Martinique (three cases each), Brazil, Bolivia (two cases each), Ecuador, Costa Rica, the Virgin Islands and Guadaloupe (one case each). The team of researchers, led by Alex Perkins, Eck Family Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences and a member of the Eck Institute for Global Health, projects that as many as 93 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean, including 1.6 million childbearing women, are at risk of infection over the next 2 to 3 years of the epidemic.
So far only 12 cases have been discovered in the state as of July 22, according to statistics collected by the Alabama Department of Public Health. The mosquito-borne virus, which emerged previous year in South America, is particularly unsafe to pregnant women and can cause severe birth defects.
The virus is spread by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Latin America, which are not native to Switzerland.
In Florida alone, there have been five new cases reported Monday, bringing the number to 310.
In its latest weekly bulletin, the health office said that in 18 cases the country where infection had occurred was known.
But the virus also has been linked to a rare paralyzing condition called Guillain-Barre syndrome. However, Kightlinger said the department is following one woman on CDC’s Zika Pregnancy Registry, an asymptomatic pregnant woman who previously lived in a Zika-affected area and was not ill but tested positive for Zika infection.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides more information on mosquito-borne diseases.
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This Q&A will tell you what you need to know about Zika.
