This comes days after Harris County Judge Ed Emmett announced at a press conference the first Zika-related death in the USA and a week following the announcement by Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick that the state would be getting $6 million in federal aid to combat the Zika virus.
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“They can help students become ambassadors and help prevent the spread of Zika”, Stewart said.
The health department said the third infection is outside that zone in Miami-Dade County. Zika is a concern because it has recently been associated with severe microcephaly in the unborn children of women who contract the virus while pregnant.
Fauci said the health secretary has the authority to transfer 1 per cent of NIH’s US$33 billion budget per year from one Institute to the other.
Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that only causes mild, flu-like symptoms in most people.
“Analysis from the previous chikungunya outbreak in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico shows that the outbreak peaked between the 34th and 37th weeks; those weeks were reportedly the highest during the chikungunya outbreak”.
Florida has documented 25 non-travel related cases of Zika that were likely contracted from mosquitoes in the state or from sexual transmission. There have been 13 cases in pregnant women.
The revelation that Zika has caused birth defects in a fetus comes as confirmed cases of the virus are steadily rising in Canada – from 187 a week ago to 205 as of Thursday, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Of the $26.2 million in emergency state funding authorized by Scott, $18.6 million has been allocated, including $5 million for the testing of pregnant women, $3.5 million for laboratories and $3.6 million for local mosquito control. “Every community that has requested funding has received an allocation and we will continue to work closely with them to meet their needs”.
“I want you to know that the city, the county – all of us as part of our response – are not just waiting for the resources and twiddling our thumbs”, he said.
On Thursday Burwell said that the shifting of funds was a last-ditch effort.
Although microcephaly and related neurological anomalies are the most visible and tragic signs of congenital Zika syndrome, damage to babies can be much more widespread, even in those whose heads are of normal size, health officials are now finding.
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“The failure to pass a Zika emergency supplemental has forced the Administration to choose between delaying critical vaccine development work and raiding other worthy government programs to temporarily avoid these delays”, Burwell wrote. He said the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases needs another almost $200 million for a comprehensive response to Zika.
