“So they’re all women who either traveled to a Zika affected area or had sex with someone, a man, who traveled to a Zika-affected area”, said Jamieson, who declined to clarify further.
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“The pattern that we’re seeing here in the USA among travelers is very similar to what we’re seeing in other places like Colombia and Brazil”, Dr. Denise Jamieson, co-leader of the CDC Zika pregnancy task force.
The birth defects from Zika were also seen in three other pregnancies that ended.
“Microcephaly is now only one of several documented birth abnormalities associated with Zika during pregnancy”, World Health Organization director-general Margaret Chan told a news conference. That brings the total number of cases involving pregnant women in Florida this year to 38, with total cases not involving them now reported at 147, according to Health Department officials.
To help pregnant women avoid the Zika virus, the CDC warns that they should not visit areas with reported cases. The virus, normally transmitted by mosquitoes, hasn’t been found to be circulating in the U.S. It’s not clear if any of the women were infected through sexual transmission of the virus from a male partner who had become sick while overseas.
KCBD reports that the patient developed symptoms like fever, rash and joint pain and made a decision to go to a doctor.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting that three women on the USA mainland have given birth to infants with Zika-related birth defects.
The health agency provided few details about the women, their pregnancies, the birth defects or their severity. “To protect your home, be vigilant about removing any standing water around your yard where mosquitoes can breed”.
Philip said it’s also possible the virus could be spread through blood transfusion-though there is no current protocol to test the blood supply for Zika.
The City of Lubbock Health Department (COLHD) works in conjunction with the City of Lubbock Vector Control Group who surveys local mosquito populations, submits mosquitoes for disease testing and treats mosquito breeding areas throughout Lubbock City and County.
“The abnormalities that we’re seeing are consistent with what we’ve described as congenital Zika virus infection”, Dr. Jamieson said. “But Zika is very easy to control, where we are”, she added. She said the agency plans to report outcomes of pregnancies of Zika-infected women weekly.
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Despite warnings from health officials, Congress has yet to approve President Obama’s $1.9 billion budget for Zika funding. The effects and severity of Zika-linked microcephaly become more apparent as children grow older.
