Last week the CDC issued its own detailed recommendations for preventing sexual transmission of the virus, including the suggestion that men who have traveled to Zika-affected regions consider abstaining from sex with their pregnant partner for the duration of the pregnancy.
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Blood tests are expected to be available next week, said Dr. Herminia Palacio, deputy mayor of Health and Human Services.
Athletes and visitors planning to come to the Olympics have expressed concern about Zika, a virus linked to birth defects in newborns, which has been reported in more than 30 countries, according to the World Health Organization.
Federal health officials have not previously reported miscarriages in American travelers infected with the mosquito-borne virus while overseas.
Victoria state’s health minister Jill Hennessy said: “A Victorian woman has been diagnosed this week with Zika virus after recently returning from a country where Zika virus is prevalent”. The virus is spread through mosquito bites. Already-pregnant women have been advised not to travel to the countries affected.
“The illness may include a fever, a rash which is sometimes itchy, and joint pains”, Dr Taylor said.
One of the major concerns of the virus is that it appears to be linked to microcephaly in babies.
Although the 20-year-old woman in the northern state of Rio Grande do Norte died in April 2015, the results of tests were just revealed.
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which can carry the Zika virus.
Many people infected with Zika do not show symptoms.
“Sometimes it could be obvious fairly early on and sometimes it may not be obvious at all or there may be no impact”, Dr Taylor said about the risks to the pregnant woman’s child. These mosquitoes are the same species that transmit dengue and chikungunya viruses which have also been associated with travel-related illness over the past few years.
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The Centers for Disease Control is hosting a conference call and webinar with Florida hospital workers Thursday afternoon to discuss the spread of the Zika virus. The city will also be launching a campaign to educate people about using mosquito repellent and getting rid of standing water – Information they hope to convey before it is springtime again in the city.
