The Department of Health and Human Services has declared a public health emergency in Puerto Rico in an effort to address the risk posed by Zika virus to pregnant women in the us territory.
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“While mosquitoes are the primary carriers of the virus, which has swept across the Americas and the Caribbean, infecting tens of thousands of people and causing devastating birth defects in more than 1,800 newborns, health officials are increasingly concerned that the threat of sexual transmission remains little understood, largely underpublicized and worryingly underestimated”.
The Caribbean island and USA territory has reported 10,690 laboratory-confirmed cases of Zika, including 1,035 pregnant women. There are now 28 locally acquired cases in the tri-county area, after the Florida Department of Health announced the identification of three new locally acquired cases in Miami-Dade on Friday.
Despite this new case, Florida Health Department officials reaffirmed the previously drawn Wynwood boundary, stating on their website: “The department still believes active transmissions are only taking place within the identified area that is less than one-square mile in Miami-Dade county”.
An additional 21 travel-related cases were reported Thursday for a total of 404.
The county health department is working with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to obtain mosquito traps for surveillance, county Health Officer Kim Comerzan told the newspaper. The best way to prevent Zika is to take mosquito control measures, and to avoid getting bitten. The administration said on Thursday it had shifted $US81 million ($105 million) in funds from other projects to continue work on developing vaccines to fight Zika in the absence of any funding from U.S. lawmakers.
Mr Garcia recently authorized the use of Bti, an organic larvicide, to fight the spread of Zika after rejecting aerial spraying with the insecticide naled as proposed by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Zika virus has been linked to birth defects in infants.
Zika, like dengue fever, is spread when a sick person gets bit by a mosquito, which later bites another person.
In February the Obama administration requested $1.9 billion to fight Zika, but the Republican-led Congress has not approved the funding.
The publication shares that it is unlikely that there will be sustained transmission via mosquito in the nation, due to many people traveling back and forth from NY to Zika hot zones.
The last time the Obama administration declared a public health emergency was during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Dr Knight said of the individuals with the virus, two are males (one adult and one child) and the remaining five are all adult females.
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State officials have been ramping up surveillance, prevention efforts, and mosquito-control programs, especially in Southern California and in states along the Gulf Coast, where more Zika virus disease cases are expected.
