Gov. Rick Scott said at a Zika roundtable in the Tampa area’s Pinellas County that four new cases were connected to mosquitoes in Miami’s Wynwood arts district.
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Brain imaging of infants with confirmed or presumed congenital Zika virus infection showed both a reduction in brain volume, as well as abnormal development in certain areas of the brain, a small retrospective analysis of Brazilian infants found. Officials are looking into the possibility that the Pinellas County resident was infected with the virus in a neighboring county. “That’s why we’ve highlighted we are quite concerned about these two areas where we know there has been a spread of Zika through local mosquitoes”.
She said that among the five locally transmitted cases confirmed in the Miami Beach areas, one was a 44-year-old woman from Taiwan, who visited Florida on a business trip between July 31 and August 11, and the centers have taken measures to avoid the virus from spreading.
The state department of health has begun door-to-door outreach in Pinellas County, testing individuals to find other cases, Scott said in a statement.
A recent study published by Brazilian researchers from the D’Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Institute for Research Professor Amorim Neto (IPESQ), alongside Tel Aviv University and the Boston Children’s Hospital in the United States, indicates that microcephaly, a very usual feature in cases of Zika virus gestational infection, is just one of several observed brain changes.
“People who have been in those areas since mid-July and are experiencing symptoms should see a doctor for an examination and tell the doctor about their travel history”, Liu said, adding that many cases of Zika infection do not show clear symptoms.
Last week, five cases were linked to mosquitoes in Miami Beach.
Almost all of the babies in either the confirmed or suspected Zika infection groups had ventriculomegaly, the researchers said.
She said expecting mothers should take precautions to avoid mosquito bites but not to get overly stressed about Zika.
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More than 480 New Yorkers have tested positive for the Zika virus including pregnant women. There have been 43 locally transmitted cases statewide. However, normal head circumference was misleading in several cases, as ventriculomegaly may have given the appearance of a normal head size. Symptoms may include fever, rash, joint or muscle pain, headache, and bloodshot eyes.
