Travel related cases — 616 have been reported by the state — involve people who brought the virus into Florida after being infected elsewhere.
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Aerial insecticide spraying against mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus has pushed through in Miami Beach, Florida despite protests from the public. Yet instead of passing emergency funding to combat and stop the spread of Zika, Congress went on vacation – forcing researchers to take money from Ebola to pay for Zika.
Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PDH) today reported the state’s first sexually transmitted Zika case.
Most of the state’s cases to date are travel-related, meaning people got the infection while traveling outside of the country.
Health officials say it’s also becoming increasingly clear that the Zika virus can be transmitted through sexual activity.
President Barack Obama requested Congress allocate $1.9 billion for the Zika fight in February.
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 Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority would research and develop rapid diagnostic tests; other money would be spent on community health centers and block grants to USA territories.
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a $350,000 supplement to a one year cooperative agreement with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to help expand capacity for caring for children who are or may be impacted by the Zika virus.
“We have about 90,000 local governments, many of which have some sort of a public health responsibility, ranging from running clinics to mosquito abatement districts” he said.
By mid-July, 2015, Brazil notified World Health Organization of a spike in neurological disorders-swelling of brain and spinal cord, GBS and microcephaly. The 20 percent of infected people who actually get sick usually experience only mild symptoms, according to county officials. It contains the list of countries affected by the Zika virus. That finding strengthened the suspected link between infection with the virus and the syndrome, which causes temporary paralysis in its victims.
Over the summer, lawmakers left Washington without a Zika funding package – and the situation in Florida quickly became worse. “Zika is real, and while we don’t understand it fully, that is not a reason to dismiss its impact”, Curry said during a commission meeting Wednesday. The CDC is advising that pregnant women avoid traveling to those areas of Miami where infections are occurring to reduce their risk of contracting Zika.
South Beach is the second site of Zika transmission by mosquitoes on the USA mainland.
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Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), told NBC News that the agency, which is spearheading work on candidate vaccines against Zika, has run out of money for its work on the virus.
