The state of emergency, requested by Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla, will allow the U.S.to allocate emergency funding to combat the virus in Puerto Rico, as well as deploy medical staff.
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In order to prevent Zika, HHS recommended people wear condoms, and prevent mosquito bites by wearing mosquito repellent, long sleeved shirts and trousers, and staying in air-conditioned or screened rooms.
Zika is responsible for resulting in microcephaly and other serious fetal brain defects in newly-born children.
Authorities stressed the latest case doesn’t pose a risk to the public in Grant County or elsewhere in the state.
The first Zika virus case in southeastern Michigan’s Monroe County has been confirmed by health officials. Cases have been reported in 33 of Florida’s 67 counties. 28 of the cases weren’t travelled-related and are considered to have been spread by a mosquito bite. Those cases stem from people who were infected elsewhere and brought the virus into Florida.
In the continental USA, local mosquitoes in Florida are still spreading the virus. Still, some polls suggest, like a recent Washington Post-ABC News one, that Americans are not incredibly concerned about the virus.”I’m sorry that people feel that way, but it is a problem”, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Dr. Tom Frieden said in a recent press conference.
“1,035 pregnant women, who bear the greatest risk from the infection”.
Antigua & Barbuda has recorded an increase in Zika virus cases, whose effect on the human body has been feared to be worse than originally thought by world health officials.
Some $6.87 million in federal funding has been allocated, including $5 million for mosquito control in local districts, the department said. Partners of pregnant women are advised to use a condom to guard against sexual transmission during pregnancy. “As the first virus that can be transmitted by mosquitoes known to cause severe birth defects, we are working closely with Puerto Rican officials to pursue solutions to fight the virus in Puerto Rico”, said Sylvia Burwell, the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary.
Of that total, $34 million will go to the National Institutes of Health, while another $47 million will go to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, which works with private companies on vaccine development.
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“Like many measures that come before the Senate, I did not support every provision included in the conference report, and I am disappointed that we are not responding to this public health emergency like we traditionally have responded to others like it – in a bipartisan way”, Donnelly said in June. Many clinics in the USA have been supplied with Zika testing kits.
