Officials said the two women whose infants were born with Zika-related birth defects had traveled and spent time in a country were the virus is widespread.
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47 of those cases occurred in Los Angeles and San Diego counties. “In fact, the area we are concerned about is about 500 square feet right in the middle of the one-mile radius where there have been infections”.
KCBS Radio reported one of the babies was born within the last six months at Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley to a mother who had traveled from Guatemala. “We join the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in urging pregnant women to avoid travel to areas with known Zika transmission”.
With Florida’s Zika cases climbing to 422 on Friday, including another locally transmitted case, Gov. Rick Scott held a rare conference call with state lawmakers to outline continued efforts to limit the outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease that can cause birth defects. The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis.
The most effective means of preventing future outbreaks is testing mosquitoes pre-emptively so that those found to carry the Zika virus can be eradicated, he said.
Two instances of laboratory-confirmed infection with Zika virus have been identified in Hardin County residents, according to the Lincoln Trail District Health Department.
Gottlieb said he also worries Zika could have impacts on pregnancies beyond the first trimester that are subtle and undetectable until much later. Infants born to mothers with confirmed Zika infections will be monitored for one year. Pregnant women are strongly advised not to travel to countries with active Zika transmission.
The CDC issued an unprecedented travel warning Monday, advising pregnant women and their partners not to travel to a small community just north of downtown Miami, where Zika is actively circulating.
Spraying from the air to try to stop the Zika virus began early in the Miami area.
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Meanwhile, in a neighborhood of Miami, Florida, federal and state health officials said at least 15 people were infected with the virus by local mosquitoes.
