The four patients in Florida would be the first of the more than 1,650 U.S. Zika cases to have contracted the virus from a mosquito on the U.S. mainland.
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Public Health England is monitoring the global situation closely and the risk to the United Kingdom remains unchanged.
For Zika to become a homegrown virus in the mainland United States, a mosquito would have to bite a Zika-infected person and then bite another person, passing on the virus.
Microcephaly is a condition that causes an infant to have an underdeveloped brain and a small head.
A total of eight San Francisco residents have tested positive for Zika virus, the city’s Department of Public Health announced Friday.
Pregnant women are considered to be at the greatest risk from the Zika virus because it can cause microcephaly and other birth defects.
The latest Zika outbreak started in Brazil in the spring of 2015. “We have worked hard to stay ahead of the spread of Zika and prepare for the worst”.
President Obama has asked his team to ensure Florida has the support it needs after being briefed on the new cases. As of July 7, Zika had been diagnosed in 5,582 people in Puerto Rico, including 672 pregnant women, the CDC said.
Health officials warn people to protect themselves from mosquito bites by using insect repellent, wearing trousers, using and/or replacing window screens and removing standing water.
“It’s what we feared”, he said in an interview.
Women living in that area of Miami who are pregnant or considering pregnancy are being urged to contact either their doctors or their county health department for Zika prevention kits.
Florida’s burgeoning tourist economy is sensitive to whatever could discourage people from coming to the state.
Until now, the infection – which is carried by mosquitos – has been mostly spread by travel to Latin America and the Caribbean, where the disease is most prevalent, or by sexual transmission.
“Zika is now here”, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the director of the CDC, said at a news briefing, as reported by the New York Times.
“Florida now has the capacity to test 6,609 people for active Zika virus and 2,059 people for Zika antibodies”, Mr Scott said. Officials said that those infected had probably been bitten by a mosquito, and said they suspected the cases originated in a one-square-mile area north of downtown Miami.
As the rain continues to fall on the Gulf Coast, companies like Mosquito Joe will continue to spray and people like Susan Hollinger say they’ll be prepared if Zika strikes.
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Zika Virus Came From Fla. “Sometimes you don’t know where these people were infected”.
