In other cases of sexual transmission, the virus was spread by someone who at some point had symptoms.
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Florida’s health department reported 11 new travel related cases on Thursday, including three in Miami-Dade, two in Alachua, two in Orange, one in Duval, one in Monroe, one in Osceola and one in Polk counties. The new recommendations will stay in place until the threat of Zika transmission is reduced, the agency added.
Most of the cases within the USA and D.C. are related to travel overseas or sexual transmission. It is most unsafe to pregnant women, due to the virus’ link to microcephaly, a devastating birth defect where babies are born with smaller than normal heads and underdeveloped brains.
The Food and Drug Administration now recommends that all blood donations in the U.S.be screened for the Zika virus.
The other four cases were connected to mosquitoes in Miami’s Wynwood arts district, the first area in Florida to report local transmission of Zika.
United Nations health officials say they have not confirmed any laboratory cases of the Zika virus in athletes or anyone else associated with the Olympics, which concluded Sunday.
Health experts do stress that the vast majority of the more than 2,260 Zika infections so far reported in the continental United States have been linked to travel overseas – to countries with Zika outbreaks in Latin America or the Caribbean.
Florida has been dealing with more than 40 cases of locally-acquired Zika over the past few weeks.
In a statement released Friday, the FDA says all those areas are currently in compliance with blood screening, but that expanded testing is now needed.
Atlanta police investigating a woman’s report that she was sexually assaulted by an Uber driver say they now believe the suspect posed as a driver to lure her into his auto, the most recent of several attacks by phony.
“We’ve come to a critical juncture: the risk to the blood supply combined with the uncertainty about the nature and extent of Zika virus transmission”, Marks said.
The Zika virus causes only a mild illness in most people, but scientists have confirmed that infection during pregnancy can lead to severe brain-related birth defects.
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A total of 24 infections have been confirmed in pregnant women. “Pregnant women who have traveled to an area with Zika should inform their doctor upon return, and couples returning from an affected area should speak with a doctor before getting pregnant”.
