While mosquitoes that can carry the virus have been found in 12 California counties, there is no evidence these mosquitoes are transmitting Zika in the state at this time. So, in a county that has those mosquitoes present, the way that local tranmission would happen is exactly as you described: somebody who is viremic – in other words has the virus in their blood – gets bitten by one of the mosquitos and then “boom” the mosquito is infected.
Advertisement
It may sound like the plot to a bad Michael Crichton book, but mosquitos carrying the dreaded Zika virus have officially arrived in Florida, and infected men are now spreading it through their sperm.
“It wasn’t clear at first whether mosquito densities were high enough to sustain an outbreak in the U.S.”, Dr. Ira Longini, a professor of biostatistics in the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions, said in a university statement. Zika has been linked to severe birth defects in babies whose mothers were infected during pregnancy. To prevent getting Zika the best thing they can do is avoid Zika prevalent areas, and use barrier protection when having sexual contact with anyone who has Zika or was recently in a Zika prevelant country. “This study adds a piece to the puzzle in terms of the vagina as a site for virus replication – vaginal secretions may be a reservoir for the Zika virus in humans, but this requires more investigation”, she added.
Those worries may have been overstated, if the most recent World Health Organization report released Thursday is any indication.
Notable absences such as National Basketball Association player Stephen Curry were discussed at length, and Brazil had been taken to task by many people for failing to clean up the waterways in time for the games.
Zika has also been found to cause hearing and vision issues in infants who were exposed while in the womb. “Subsequent new information about Zika transmission and its lingering in the body just reconfirms what we were trying to convey”.
Rey’s team of scientists collected Aedes egypti mosquitoes from the Wynwood area in Miami where the first locally acquired cases began. The potential consequences on fetuses after sexual transmission to pregnant women were also unknown. There’s no established way to protect babies in the womb from Zika, and there’s no treatment for a baby born with brain damage.
Dr. Paul Ettestad, the state public health veterinarian with the New Mexico Department of Health, said the good news is that local mosquitoes haven’t been proven to actually spread the virus, yet.
These infections in the United States are thought to have occurred because the patients’ partners had traveled to countries where Zika is circulating, the CDC said.
Advertisement
US officials said they don’t expect to see a Zika epidemic in the United States similar to those in Latin America. Those infected by Zika rarely need to go to the hospital and very few die from the virus, according to the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of course, these are also symptoms of the common cold and the flu, so how do you know when to get tested?
