The Aedes aegypti mosquito carries the virus, and there have been calls for its eradication as the only long-term solution. “I think it is very unlikely”.
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It’s also worth bearing in mind that the majority of those who are exposed to the virus do not get sick from it, although the potential risks, particularly to pregnant women and their babies, have seen multiple countries issue warnings over travel to affected areas. “The CDC is monitoring the situation now and there is no risk”.
The disease is not believed to spread via human contact and the mosquitoes believed to carry it are not found in NY.
The Caribbean country has reported 10 confirmed cases, none of them involving pregnant women. Most people never develop symptoms.
In just a few months more than a thousand babies in Brazil have been born with abnormally small heads due to a neurological complication linked to Zika.
Aedes Aegypti spread the Zika virus through bites and can cause a rash, joint pain, rash, fever and conjunctivitis.
Experts are investigating a possible link between Zika infection in pregnant women and infants with severe birth defects. Meanwhile, efforts are focused on controlling the spread of the virus by eliminating mosquito populations.
Fauci said the United States typically spends $97 million per year on viruses that are transmitted by mosquitoes and ticks, and it will draw from that pool of money to fund new Zika research in a host of areas, including diagnostic tests, vaccines, basic research and vector control. There is no vaccine or medications to prevent or treat Zika infections, according to the agency. He gave no time frame.
A lab at the University of Alberta that specializes in mosquito-borne viruses has joined the race against the Zika virus, which is linked to birth defects now spreading across Central and South America.
An outbreak of Zika virus is unlikely in New Mexico, but travelers to any of two dozen nations should take steps to avoid mosquito bites and watch for symptoms of illness after they return, health officials warned Thursday. R. Lucey and Lawrence O. Gostin wrote in JAMA. The newspaper also mentioned a second case from 2008, in which a USA biologist was infected with Zika while in Senegal collecting mosquitoes for a malaria study.
“We will do everything to ensure the health of the athletes and all the visitors”, Bach told reporters in Athens.
The World Health Organization (WHO) set an emergency meeting for February 1 on the Zika virus, which it says is spreading “explosively” in the Americas, with three to four million cases expected this year.
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“We were looking out for (chikungunya) last summer and luckily it didn’t spread as far north as New Mexico”, he said.
