According to reports, there are now 346 cases of Zika virus in the U.S. Before mass panic ensues, they’ve all occurred in people who have recently traveled to Zika-prone areas-not from an infected mosquito in the U.S.-and only seven of those cases are confirmed to be sexually transmitted. “Everything we look at with this virus seems to be a bit scarier than we initially thought”, she said.
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Also on Monday, Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health cited recent discoveries about how destructive Zika appears to be to fetal brains.
Both Schuchat and Fauci made the remarks at a White House press briefing, where they were invited to provide an update on this virus and the risk that it poses to the U.S. public. Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky., told reporters that “we’re prepared to try to do a supplemental bill if it’s needed” and that action is likely “before the end of the fiscal year” on October 1.
Hawaii Governor David Ige extended the state’s emergency period for combating mosquito-borne illnesses this week to help the state combat the growing threat of mosquito borne illnesses such as dengue fever, Zika virus and chikungunya in the coming months.
The county health department said it received confirmation of the case from the Texas Department of State Health Services.
This is a very unusual virus that we can’t pretend to know everything about it that we need to know.
Yet, despite the new warning from health officials, Beaston said she would not shy away from Mother Nature.
Based on new research from the CDC, the virus is not only linked to birth defects like mircosepholy, but also to an autoimmune disorder similar to multiple sclerosis, which causes swelling of the brain and spinal cord.
And researchers still don’t know how many babies of women infected with Zika will end up with birth defects, or what drugs and vaccines may be effective.
“We can’t assume we’re not going to have a big problem”, Schuchat concluded, as quoted by Reuters. Thus far, the Obama Administration has requested $1.9 billion in funding from Congress, and in the meantime has been using $589 million in funding left over from the Ebola outbreak.
In February, the first USA case of locally transmitted Zika was reported in Dallas, Texas – spread through sexual contact, not a mosquito bite.
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With more funding and the global medical community working to fight the deadly Zika virus, the world is hopeful that a treatment for the deadly virus will be discovered soon.
