The California Department of Public Health announced that two babies have been born in the state with birth defects related to the Zika virus, the first such cases reported in California.
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NEWS BRIEF More than 40 members of the USA military have contracted the Zika virus this year in countries where it is present, government officials said; among them a pregnant woman, for whom Zika can be particularly unsafe.
Mosquitoes that can carry the Zika virus has been found in 12 California counties, but the California Department of Public Health has no evidence that these mosquitoes are transmitting the Zika virus in the state.
The health department emphasized that it still believes the only place with ongoing Zika infection is a square-mile area in northern Miami.
Florida began aerial spraying on Thursday to kill mosquitoes in a Miami neighborhood with the first US spread of the Zika virus that can cause a rare but devastating birth defect. “This CDC funding provides real-time data about the Zika epidemic as it unfolds in the United States and territories and will help those most devastated by this virus”. Zika infection during pregnancy may cause birth defects and can cause microcephaly, or small head size, in addition to other birth defects.
Florida health authorities have identified 15 Zika cases spread by local mosquitoes and expect there may be more.
The fight against the Zika virus on USA soil is now at a new level.
It also recommended that women avoid getting pregnant for up to eight weeks after returning from the affected area.
“They had very high kill rates in the mosquito traps there”, CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden told reporters Thursday, just after the launch of the campaigns.
Florida’s governor is making Zika testing available for free to all pregnant women statewide who would like to be tested.
The Scottish cases of the virus, which has sparked a health emergency in South America, are not thought to present a risk to public health as the infection is typically passed on by infected mosquitos. Both have associations with travel to areas where the virus has been circulating.
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Most people infected with Zika experience mild symptoms such as fever, rash and joint pain. Health department officials said that samples have been sent to the U.S.
