Zika infections in pregnant women have been shown to cause microcephaly – a severe birth defect in which the head and brain are undersized – as well as other brain abnormalities.
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There have been no reported locally transmitted cases of microcephaly in the continental United States. It was something that happened in South America, in the Caribbean, in Miami and Texas.
Health officials say it’s also becoming increasingly clear that the Zika virus can be transmitted through sexual activity.
So why did Congress ultimately block another $1.2 billion in Zika prevention funds?
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives offered $1.1 billion in June, but it came with the provision that none of the money could be given to Planned Parenthood because of that group’s endorsement of abortion.
The WHO said that men and women returning from where the Zika virus is actively spreading should practice safer sex or abstinence for six months, regardless of whether they are trying to conceive or showing symptoms.
The health department bared their preparation activities for the mosquito-borne disease after a 45-year-old woman from Iloilo City has tested positive for Zika virus, the sixth case recorded in the country.
People infected with Zika may have a mild fever, skin rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain and fatigue that can last for two to seven days.
Although one man had Zika found in his semen 188 days after the onset of symptoms, the longest period that the virus has so far been found to remain infectious was 24 days, and World Health Organization said its latest six-month advice was conservative. And while Zika seems relatively benign in adults, a small number of victims suffer the nervous system disorder Guillain-Barre syndrome.
The administration asked people planning to travel to 58 countries and regions hit by the virus to take measures to avoid mosquito bites – such as wearing light-coloured, long-sleeve shirts and long pants and using mosquito repellent and nets while sleeping. With Zika circulating in Florida, CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said the need for new funding was urgent.
With more than 50 cases of locally transmitted Zika in the Miami area, USA health officials are urging women who are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant to take health precautions.
Scientists now believe that pregnancy may greatly prolong a Zika infection by enabling the germ to travel repeatedly between the mother and the baby.
The good news about the Zika count in New Jersey is that each reported instance of the mosquito-borne illness is travel-related, meaning that the people who contracted it did so while they were in an infected country.
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The study – supported in part by the Canadian Institute of Health Research and the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (BioMosiac program) – investigated the risks of the introduction of Zika virus by travellers from endemic areas in the Americas and further transmission in resource-limited countries in Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. “If you have traveled to an area where Zika virus is present, condoms or other barrier protection methods should be used during sex for eight weeks upon return to prevent sexual transmission”.
