Mosquitoes have apparently begun spreading the Zika virus on the USA mainland for the first time, health officials said Friday, a long-feared turn in the epidemic that is sweeping Latin America and the Caribbean.
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The virus has a presence in Arkansas, “we have had seven travelers return from Zika infected countries and return to Arkansas and be diagnosed with Zika”.
PHE said the risk in Florida is moderate, while in many countries in South America, including Olympics host Brazil, it remains high. The first case, which affected a man under 50, was confirmed in May, health officials said.
Federal health officials have not recommended that pregnant women avoid travel to South Florida. “At CDC, we have been saying for months, based on experience with chikungunya and dengue – viruses spread by the same mosquito that spreads Zika – that individual cases and potentially small clusters of Zika are possible in the U.S.”, CDC Director Tom Frieden said during a Friday media briefing.
The award is Alabama’s share of about $60 million CDC is awarding to states, cities, and territories to support efforts to protect Americans from Zika virus disease and adverse health outcomes that can result from Zika infection, including microcephaly.
Of the four people infected, he said: “They are all active Zika cases and have not exhibited symptoms to be admitted to the hospital”.
It comes after health officials in the United States discovered four cases of the virus, which it is feared were contracted from mosquitoes inside America and are not linked to foreign travel.
More than 1,650 Zika infections have been reported in the USA, but the four patients in Florida would be the first not linked to travel outside the US mainland.
A Cullman County resident who was diagnosed with Zika after traveling overseas is the 15th documented case in Alabama this year.
The mosquito that carries the Zika virus is found in southern US states.
Some medical experts said pregnant women should not travel to the Miami area, especially if the visit involves spending time outdoors.
There have been no mosquito-transmitted cases in central Florida yet.
Zika virus infection can cause microcephaly and other severe fetal brain defects, and is associated with other adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Florida is the first state in the nation to have local transmission of the Zika virus. If true, they’re the first documented cases of Zika being transmitted by the insects on the US mainland. Three additional cases were then reported on July 15, followed by two other cases last week, with today’s announcement being the most recent, health department officials said. FILE – This 2006 file photo provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a female Aedes aegypti mosquito in the process of acquiring a blood meal from a human.
The health department encourages people to wear insect repellent with DEET during the hours of dusk and dawn and remove standing water because it could attract mosquitoes.
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The CDC has put out guidance related to the sexual transmission of the Zika virus. “Sometimes you don’t know where these people were infected”.
