Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that can cause birth defects and is particularly risky for pregnant women.
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Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla requested emergency declaration, which allows the island to apply for additional funding to hire and train unemployed workers to assist in combating Zika.
The announcement said Puerto Rico has had 10,690 laboratory-confirmed cases of Zika, including 1,035 cases involving pregnant women.
Christian Lindmeier, spokesman for the World Health Organization, told the BBC the report would be assessed: “The Zika outbreak is a constantly evolving situation, and every new piece of evidence is looked into and evaluated as to whether or not guidelines will need to be revised”. Most essentially, they come to talk about how the virus is spread through sex and not the mosquitoes known to carry it. The virus can cause a transitory illness but is most unsafe to pregnant women, since maternal infection can trigger a serious birth defect called microcephaly.
With the 2016 Olympics Games in Rio de Janeiro, health officials worldwide have voiced concerns over a potential crisis, both in Brazil and when global athletes and tourists, who may be unknowingly infected, return home and possibly spread the virus.
“The failure to pass a Zika emergency supplemental (appropriation) has forced the administration to choose between delaying critical vaccine development work and raiding other worthy government programs to avoid these delays”, Burwell said in a letter to Congress. Areas with warm tropical environments are where the mosquitoes will continue to thrive. Despite their attempts, the governor affirmed that there were three more cases of locally transmitted Zika.
Thomas Frieden, director the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has said that Zika is on track to infect up to 10,000 pregnant women by the end of the year, potentially harming hundreds of babies.
Recently, the research center in Midtown Manhattan has been receiving women who are either of reproductive age or already pregnant.
On Friday, officials suggested actual number of Zika cases were higher than the reported cases since several people being affected by Zika virus do not display any symptoms of the infection and therefore do not seek any consultation or tests. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has committed more than $9 million, as well.
“Where I say the level of concern should rise to, is for people to get out at least twice a week and check anything holding water”, warns Smith. Brazil has reported the vast majority of cases and the birth defect microcephaly.
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Health data released Friday, shows Zika cases are growing in Southern California and throughout the state, where two babies have been born with virus-related defects.
