At least 1,825 people in the continental USA and and additional 5,548 people in US territories have been diagnosed with the Zika virus, according to health authorities.
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The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services confirmed three new cases of the Zika virus on Friday: two men and a woman.
Scott has asked for more federal money to fight the outbreak and criticized the federal government for lack of funding.
Zika infection during pregnancy may cause a serious birth defect of the brain called microcephaly and other severe fetal brain defects. Among U.S. states and territories, Puerto Rico is expected to see the worst of the outbreak due to its tropical climate and a lack of infrastructure for mosquito control.
It also can also be spread by sex, prompting public health officials to advise that people who have been infected refrain from unprotected sex for several months.
The CDC recommends women who are pregnant or are considering becoming pregnant postpone travel to areas where there is widespread Zika infection.
Zika virus is a mosquito-borne illness that is characterized by a fever, rash and joint pain.
Test results confirmed he had been infected with the Zika virus, the second confirmed Zika infection involving a Taiwanese national and the fifth imported case, the CDC.
The Zika virus spent the past year ravaging Latin America and the Caribbean, and recently made its way into the continetnal United States, where it is believed to be spreading locally in Florida.
The move to support Puerto Rico comes as the number of cases contracted in the continental USA has grown to more than two dozen in Florida, all thought to have contracted the virus from mosquitoes in the same north Miami neighborhood. The Obama administration said Thursday it would shift $81 million from biomedical research and antipoverty programs to pay for development of a Zika vaccine.
President Obama has requested $1.9 billion in Zika funding, but Congress has yet to pass a bill with anything near that amount. “I am deeply concerned about how quickly the virus is spreading”.
Pregnant women and women trying to get pregnant should avoid travel to areas with Zika transmission.
Since the Zika epidemic began in 2015 in Brazil, birth defects were found in other parts of South and Central America.
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The conference call came as the Department of Health on Thursday announced the number of Zika cases has reached 486, almost doubling the cases since July 1.
