Spanish officials say a pregnant woman is among the seven people identified as being infected with the Zika virus there after visiting affected countries.
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“We have to ensure Florida is prepared and stays ahead of the spread of the Zika virus in our state”, Gov. Rick Scott said in a news release.
Scott signed the order Wednesday to cover Miami-Dade, Lee, Hillsborough and Santa Rosa counties.
Among the topics of discussion will be controlling the mosquito population in Brazil, researching how the virus spreads (particularly to unborn children), and developing a Zika vaccine. “In the USA and Mexico, the company is passing along to its employees, health alert information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention so they will be mindful as they travel and take precautions when or where possible”.
On Feb 1, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared “the recent cluster of microcephaly cases and other neurological disorders reported in Brazil, following a similar cluster in French Polynesia in 2014, (as a) Public Health Emergency of International Concern”.
The Zika virus causes no symptoms in 80 percent of people bitten by the Aedes mosquito.
According to the AP, scientists at laboratories in the United States and Europe have mostly had to rely upon older Zika samples from patients infected during an outbreak in the South Pacific in 2013.
A Dutch group known as Women on the Web is offering to provide the abortion pill to women who are early in their pregnancy (less than nine weeks) and infected with Zika, but the Brazilian government actually stops the packages from being delivered.
Meanwhile, the CDC said it will issue guidance in the coming days on prevention of sexual transmission of the Zika virus, focusing on the male sexual partners of women who are or may be pregnant.
“If the link with microcephaly is confirmed, that would obviously cause a lot of concern and panic in terms of what to do from the point of view of pregnant women”, Hardy says.
Florida is the third most populous state in the country. The governor also upgraded the health emergencies to include five counties.
Brazil’s health minister on Wednesday urged Latin American countries to work together in the fight against the Zika virus and said USA experts would arrive next week to begin work on finding a vaccine.
It is highly likely the Zika virus will hit Britain and could spread to every country in Europe, experts warned yesterday.
“We have 20,000 confirmed cases of Zika”, Gaviria told reporters outside the meeting. “I would caution that the mosquito that bears the Zika virus lives in this area”.
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“To anyone who is traveling, try and prevent bites by using spray and covering your skin”, Ruffin said.
