Public health officials recorded the first two travel-related cases of the Zika virus in Flagler County, expanding the tally of people infected with the mosquito-borne virus in the state to 823. Another female patient, who tested positive in the latest batch of test results, had travelled to a zika outbreak area before becoming sick. The state-run labs in Florida are buried under a backlog of Zika tests, with hundreds of pregnant women waiting weeks to hear results of a test that could potentially change their lives.
Advertisement
Zika can be spread by mosquitoes and is rampant in Brazil and other countries in the southern hemisphere.
Slightly below-average precipitation has done little to slow what is becoming a major concern for health officials as the outbreak of Zika in Puerto Rico continues to spread.
Because the virus is most common in a swath of countries around the equator, the current World Health Organization policy is that couples in these countries should have access to birth control and receive information regarding the potential risks of becoming pregnant while Zika is a threat.
The vast majority of infections in Florida have been imported by residents who caught the virus while traveling overseas in places where Zika is widespread. In the meantime, the WHO still stresses that the outbreak of Zika remains an global health emergency and that the virus is expected to continue spreading to new countries. In addition to increased rainfall, temperatures between July and into October average around 82 F (28 C), which further increase the breeding of the mosquito populations.
The study findings are based on bioclimatic models developed by the research team and created to establish the “outer bound on where the virus is likely to persist”, using a “comprehensive geospatial dataset of Zika occurrences” in the virus’ “native range”, since it was first identified in 1947. “Estimates suggest that if trends continue, at least one in four people, including women who become pregnant, may become infected with the Zika virus”.
Those who do will probably experience fever, rashes, joint and muscle pain and conjunctivitis.
Malaysia and the Philippines have also reported cases.
Sensitization sessions on the implications of Zika Virus and the possible modes of transmission are routinely provide through antenatal clinics at Wellness Centres throughout the island.
Pregnant women have even more reason to be concerned about the spread of the Zika virus after two reports published this week reinforced the connection between Zika and birth defects, and shed more light on the extent of those defects.
The first case of Zika is confirmed in Cameron County. People usually don’t get sick enough to go to the hospital, and they very rarely die of Zika.
Lednicky said the new Mayaro virus is different from what they found in 2014. It is now confirmed that Zika can be sexually transmitted.
Advertisement
Its deputy president, Dr Jamali Wagiman had reportedly proposed for a ministerial level medical bio-ethics advisory board comprising experts from obstetrics, infectious diseases, psychiatry, bio-ethics and religions to be formed by the Health Ministry to deal with the issue on termination of pregnancy for women infected by the Zika virus.
