Two cases of Zika virus in Florida have been confirmed to be in Miami-Dade County, according to the Florida Department of Health.
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Now, after a baby born with brain abnormality in Hawaii tested positive for the virus, the CDC has come up with guidelines for how to identify the disease and monitor women who are pregnant during the outbreak.
Pregnant women who have traveled to regions where the Zika virus is prevalent should be tested for the infection, according to new guidance from U.S. health officials. You can only become infected with Zika virus if you’re bitten by a certain type of infected mosquito, and it can’t be spread from person to person.
They are Brazil, Barbados, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guyana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Paraguay, Surinam and Venezuela.
CDC has issued an “alert” advisory for Zika in Central and South America after its fast spread in the regions late past year, as well as the Caribbean. It’s marked by an abnormally small head and underdeveloped brain.
Although Zika virus is not a reportable disease in the United States, the agency did encourage health care providers to report suspected cases to their local or state health departments, which should report laboratory-confirmed cases to the CDC’s ArboNET surveillance system.
The illness often results in fever, joint pain and rash, health officials said.
The child born in Hawaii is the only reported case of Zika in the U.S. Studies in South America have linked the virus to the rare birth defect.
The project will be driven towards Piracicaba in Brazl, which is now the most affected by the Zika virus.
Travelers can protect themselves from this disease by taking steps to prevent mosquito bites.
Officials there are urging women – who can wait – to hold off on becoming pregnant until the crisis is under control.
Workers in Brazil are going door to door encouraging and educating residents about how to clean up standing water, which provides flawless breeding ground for the Zika-carrying mosquitoes. It has been found in some pockets of the islands and is blamed for an ongoing outbreak on the Big Island of the dengue virus, which is spread the same way as Zika.
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There is no vaccine for Zika yet, and although Fauci said the US government has been working on one for the past month, a quick solution isn’t likely. Other common symptoms include muscle pain and headache.
