A United States laboratory researcher was back at work after contracting the Zika virus by pricking herself with a needle during an experiment last month, broadcaster ABC News said on Thursday.
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The connection between Zika and microcephaly first came to light last fall in Brazil, which has now confirmed more than 1,400 cases of microcephaly that it considers to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. The university learned that the blood test was positive for Zika virus June 8.
“Most people infected with Zika virus won’t even know they have the disease because they won’t have symptoms”, said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In response to the WHO’s new guidelines, the CDC said health care providers should discuss Zika’s risks and how to prevent infection, and provide information about contraception. The most cases in a single county – 13 of them – were reported in Harris County, home to Houston, followed by six each in Dallas County and Bexar County, home of San Antonio.
Tom Frieden, the director for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks about the Zika virus at a luncheon in Atlanta on Thursday, June 9, 2016. These are groups of public health experts to help with the response during emergency situations. Those states include Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
“We’re saying ‘doing something, will you?’ The states need money, we need some money this has potential to be a health crisis, if not addressed”, Patrick said.
Summer is about to start and the standing water, a breeding ground for mosquitoes, amplifies the risk of Zika in the state. He said the state’s ability to fight Zika is “hampered by the uncertainty of federal funding”.
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The map combines information from counties about where the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes have been found for two decades. That’s based on the limited transmission seen from those other viruses, which is attributed to factors such as air conditioning and window screens. Although men can transmit the virus through sex, it’s not known if women can transmit the virus through sex. The authors said their work “underscores the need for systematic surveillance” of these mosquitoes nationwide because not all counties collect this data or collect the data in the same way.
