The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) scaled up a travel alert level Thursday for Pinellas and Palm Beach counties, Florida, bringing the total number of counties where local transmission of the Zika virus have occurred to four. All pregnant women can protect themselves by avoiding travel to an area with Zika, preventing mosquito bites, and following recommended precautions against getting Zika through sex.
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The new order comes in the wake of the first locally acquired Zika cases in the continental U.S. More than 40 people in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties in Florida have been diagnosed with the virus since officials announced its appearance there earlier this month.
Puerto Rico has been identified as a Zika affected area where active mosquito transmission of Zika is now taking place.
The baby’s father travelled to the Northeast of Brazil and showed symptoms of Zika before his wife.
Gov. Rick Scott has worked hard to keep the spread of the Zika virus in the news and on Floridians’ minds.
Q: If I am traveling to an area with Zika, should I be concerned about Zika? Asked about delays in delivering the kits in a conference call on Friday, CDC Director Thomas Frieden said the agency had already provided 10,000 products containing the insect repellant DEET for use in Florida.
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.
Symptoms of Zika virus include fever, rash and joint pain but the real risk is to pregnant woman.
“As new scientific and epidemiological information regarding Zika virus has become available, it’s clear that additional precautionary measures are necessary”, said Luciana Borio, M.D., the FDA’s acting chief scientist. Most people who contract Zika develop no symptoms and never know they’ve been infected.
A case of Zika in Tampa is just the latest news propelling fears of the mosquito-borne disease higher.
The images tell a heartbreaking story: Zika’s calamitous attack on the brains of babies – as seen from the inside. This is especially important for expectant couples, as Zika has been linked with severe birth defects and microcephaly in newborn infants.
As with other reports, the paper suggests that Zika does the most harm in the first trimester of pregnancy.
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The CDC advises pregnant women not to travel to an area where active Zika transmission is ongoing, and to use insect repellent and wear long trousers and long-sleeved shirts if they are in those areas.
