As a member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, Murphy has supported numerous initiatives to combat the outbreak of Zika in CT and across the United States, and has continuously called for $1.9 billion of emergency funding to address the outbreak.
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More than 1,650 Zika infections have been reported in the USA, but four patients in Florida have tested positive for the virus and appear to be the first not linked to travel outside the United States mainland. CDC said it is closely coordinating with Florida officials who are leading the effort.
Still, U.S. health officials said they do not expect widespread outbreaks in this country like those seen in Brazil, in part because of better sanitation, better mosquito control and wider use of window screens and air conditioners. The four Florida cases involve three men and one woman.
The Florida Department of Health said it believes the cases were likely transmitted through infected mosquitoes in a small area in Miami-Dade County.
Florida Governor Rick Scott, Senator Marco Rubio, and the State Surgeon General have all weighed in on the virus, but the CW55’s Hayley Minogue took to the streets of Pensacola to find out how people locally were reacting.
Miami-Dade County mosquito control inspector Sharon Nage walks through the Wynwood neighborhood looking for mosquitoes or breeding areas on July 30, 2016 in Miami. If you’ve traveled to them, you’re asked not to donate at this time.
The Zika virus also can be spread during sex by a person infected with Zika to his or her partner.
More than 50 people in Britain have been treated for Zika.
Until now, more than 1,600 cases of Zika, which can cause birth defects, have been recorded in the mainland United States but most were brought in by people who had become infected while traveling, with a smaller number transmitted by sexual contact.
No vaccines or treatments are now available to treat or prevent Zika infections.
“I think it’s scary, like Ebola and stuff”.
Zika has been linked to microcephaly which stunts the growth of a baby’s head.
“Once they recover from the illness, there’s no, we don’t believe that they can either get Zika again or that it will ever affect any future pregnancies”, Bhide said.
Florida is listed as having a moderate risk rating for the Zika virus, along with Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia and the Philippines.
“These [U.S.] cases are not unexpected”.
President Obama’s spokesman says Florida needs more federal money to limit the spread of the Zika virus. But imported cases into the county increase the chance of local spread to humans by mosquitoes, Williamson County officials told the Statesman.
The Aedes aegypti mosquitoes prefer living among people in urban areas. Statewide, DOH will ensure safe blood for pregnant women by screening units from counties without Zika.
The governor added that “if it becomes clear more resources are needed, we will not hesitate to allocate them”.
– Continue investigations in concert with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to learn all about Zika as an emerging disease.
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Taavon’s advice is stay away from areas that are impacted by the virus. The area is under close surveillance and door-to-door outreach is under way there, officials said at a press conference Friday.
