Georgia Public Health officials say they’re ready for action, should the Zika virus start spreading through local transmissions.
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The US state of Florida has identified 19 new Zika virus cases in the state, including six local infections, the Florida Department of Health said in a press release. The “unique” case which was found in July, however, had no known risk factors for the virus, had not travelled to an area with Zika transmission and had no sexual contact with an infected person.
He was not hospitalized.
While the nurse made a full recovery after three weeks, the researchers said that her case highlights the need for doctors to be on the lookout for neurological symptoms in patients who are infected by the Zika virus.
According to Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, the patient was bitten by a mosquito in Vietnam on September 5 and later revealed symptoms including skin rashes, high fever, muscle and joint pain, and headaches before traveling to Japan.
The Zika virus can quickly cross the placenta during pregnancy and rapidly disrupt brain development in a fetus, according to a new study with monkeys.
There is one pregnant woman who is suspected of having the Zika virus, CPS officials told The Daily Herald on Tuesday.
On Sept 13, the General Department spread messages on Zika virus control and issued guidelines on how to avoid contracting Zika and how to kill mosquitoes carrying the virus.
“I don’t think the message has been strong enough, in terms of ‘We have a problem, ‘” said Arthur Caplan, director of medical ethics for New York University Langone Medical Center.
The CDC has confirmed that the Zika virus is responsible for causing severe defects in unborn children, including microcephaly, which leaves babies with abnormally small heads and often with brains that do not develop properly.
Thevarajan says that while Zika has been around in Asia, it’s unclear why there has not been more outbreaks earlier and why the sudden outbreak now. Further tests confirmed the presence of Zika in her body, most notably in her central nervous system and vagina, while excluding other mosquito-borne culprits like dengue or chikungunya. There have been nine this year, health officials said.
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A number of people in England and Scotland have also been diagnosed as having the virus.
