Authorities in the Bahamas are reporting the archipelago’s first Zika case but say it was contracted elsewhere.
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The Aedes aegypti, or yellow fever mosquito, is one of the mosquito species that can carry and spread the Zika virus.
The county’s first case, reported July 5, involved a southwest Riverside County man who got sick after returning from the Caribbean.
As of August 3, 1,825 people in the USA had become infected with Zika, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mosquito-control officials have increased spraying and monitoring in the area over the summer in the hopes of curtailing the mosquito’s spread to other communities. Illness may develop in 20 percent of infected people within three to seven days after a bite from an infected mosquito. The mosquito that carries Zika has been found in portions of Riverside County, including Corona, Riverside, the Coachella Valley, and parts of the San Jacinto Valley. Zika is primarily transmitted by certain types of tropical mosquitoes and can cause severe brain-related birth defects. There are 50 confirmed cases – none locally transmitted – in New Jersey. The best way to prevent Zika is to avoid travel to areas where active transmission is present. Zika has been linked to microcephaly in newborns, a rare condition in which the child is born with a significantly smaller head, which can lead to blindness, hearing loss, the inability to swallow or move, seizures, intellectual disabilities and developmental delays. Symptoms are generally mild and can last for several days to a week.
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Federal funding would advance development of a Zika vaccine, as well as provide state and local governments with resources necessary to continue both preventative mosquito control efforts, and respond to a health emergencies.
