Community Blood Centers are taking extra precautions as concerns about the spread of the Zika virus continue to grow. By Monday the number swelled to 14-twelve cases in Miami Dade County and two others in Broward. “We are robbing Peter to pay Paul”, Blumenthal said.
Advertisement
The virus has been linked to severe birth defects.
The Zika virus spreads through mosquitoes, and if transferred to a baby in the womb, can result in brain damage, experts said.
At least 31 people in CT have been diagnosed as carrying the Zika virus, but all of them are believed to have contracted the virus while traveling in Caribbean nations or in Latin and South America.
“The surveillance helps establish a baseline so we can see what microcephaly looked like in the past, allowing us to track Zika”, Van Deusen said.
State and federal officials are scrambling to respond after the confirmation of homegrown Zika cases in South Florida.
The 10 newly recorded Zika virus patients were most likely got infected weeks ago around mid-June.
“This is sometimes referred to as a Cockroach of mosquitos, it can survive anywhere, it can breed in a capful of water, it’s an indoor mosquito”, said Sylvia Matthews Burwell, Health and Human Services Secretary. “Having more people coming into facilities can cause a stress in the system as far manpower goes”.
Here’s a link from University of Missouri Health with more information about Zika.
All this is prompting a new and urgent government warning for pregnant women to avoid that Southern part of Florida, particularly the Miami area. It notes that customers with flight reservations who are concerned about traveling to areas affected by Zika can call Delta’s reservations office.
Despite the emergence of Zika in the United States, the risk of it spreading by mosquitoes in Minnesota is thought to be low.
Advertisement
“If somebody who has the virus is bitten by a mosquito, it has the potential to transmit the virus to another person that it bites.and then we have local transmission”, said Joerke.
