Until now, no mosquito-borne virus has been known to cause birth defects, and the last infectious pathogen known to cause an epidemic of birth defects was the rubella virus more than 50 years ago.
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“It is now clear that the virus causes microcephaly”, Dr. Tom Frieden, the director of the CDC, said in a statement. The report was published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, in which the CDC authors describe a rigorous weighing of evidence using established scientific criteria.
“Never before in history has there been a situation where a bite from a mosquito can result in a devastating malformation”, Frieden said.
The CDC said it hoped the announcement would raise awareness about the threat to those traveling to and living in affected regions in Latin America, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and southern US states like Texas and Florida where the virus is expected to be seen this year.
A Summit County resident has tested positive for the Zika virus after traveling to a Zika-infected country, the Summit County Public Health department said Thursday. According to local press, the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Margaret Chan expressed her confidence in Brazil to organize safe Olympics despite zika outbreak on February 24, 2016, and said that the virus doesn’t represent a risk to the athletes that will compete in the sports event.
Almost 80 percent of those infected by the zika virus, which has become rampant in parts of South America, display no symptoms. Special Report: Zika Virus and Birth Defects – Reviewing the Evidence for Causality.
For example, scientists do not know why some infected women have delivered babies that appear to be healthy. In addition, other evidence demonstrated a biological mechanism that could explain how the virus might cause microcephaly in fetuses.
Zika, which is spread by mosquitoes, can cause Microcephaly in infants born to women infected while pregnant.
Other common symptoms of Zika virus disease are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes).
The doctor further explained that the medical community’s initial impression that the Zika virus infection only brings about mild symptoms turned out to be wrong. Zika virus infection can also be prevented by applying insect repellent, wearing long-sleeved shirts and trousers, making sure that windows and doors are always closed and treating clothes with permethrin, CDC advises. Each line suggests – but does not prove when considered separately – that Zika infection during pregnancy can cause adverse outcomes, the researchers wrote.
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Because zika virus is primarily spread by mosquitoes, CDC recommends that travelers to Saint Lucia protect themselves from mosquito bites.
