While most people who are infected only experience mild symptoms, the virus can cause the birth defect microcephaly, which results in babies born with undersized heads and underdeveloped brains.
Advertisement
The World Health Organization included the Canadian case in its Zika situation report released Thursday: “Canada is the latest country to report a case of congenital malformation associated with a travel-related case of Zika virus infection”.
The federal government declared a state of public health emergency in Puerto Rico Friday, with Zika threatening to spread to 25 percent of the island’s population.
The statement came at the request of Alejandro García Padilla, governor of the USA commonwealth, where the Zika virus is spreading rapidly, threatening hundreds of pregnant women and their unborn babies and women of childbearing age. They said all MI cases thus far have been associated with travel and aren’t from local mosquitoes. The mosquito-borne virus can cause severe birth defects.
Good news for fans of the Zika virus: Scientists have discovered the sexually transmittable malady could survive in semen for up to twice as long as originally thought.
The action gives the government access to additional funding to fight Zika as congressional efforts to allocate money remain stalled.
The WHO has warned that the virus is “spreading explosively” in South America and could infect millions of people.
Zika virus is usually spread by carrier mosquitos, and in some cases can be spread through sexual contact.
Following reported local mosquito transmission of zika virus infection, the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) on Thursday issued a zika virus travel notice for the Cayman Islands.
The Williams County Health Department is reporting the county’s first case of Zika virus in a returning traveler – a 32-year-old Williams County woman returning from Jamaica.
The declaration is the second major step that the Obama administration has taken in the past two days to combat the Zika outbreak.
It is estimated that 1.5 million people have been infected by Zika in Brazil, with over 3,500 cases of microcephaly reported between October 2015 and January 2016.
Advertisement
Florida’s caseload of Zika spread by Miami mosquitoes has risen to 25, and USA health officials continue to warn pregnant women to avoid the infection zone despite the governor’s assurances that the area of concern is shrinking.
