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CDC steps up screening of pregnant women for Zika virus

On Friday, the CDC released its interim guidelines in response to a Tuesday report of a case of Zika being transmitted by sexual contact in Dallas County, Texas.

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Ruppert said the mosquito that transmits the virus is not found here.

In the USA, there have been about 50 cases of travelers diagnosed with the virus, including six pregnant women.

The virus can spread from an infected mosquito bite, and can also be transmitted from person to person through sexual activity, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

While women who think they may have been exposed to the virus should get tested, Frieden admitted that testing kits for the virus are in short supply and will not be available at the offices of most health care providers.

The virus has been linked to the spread of a birth defect which causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads.

Brazilian government health institute Fiocruz said it had discovered for the first time the Zika virus in saliva and urine samples and would investigate the possible transmission of the virus through bodily fluids. Symptoms include fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis which can last from two to seven days. However, the World Health Organization on Thursday advised countries not to accept blood donations from people who have been in Zika-prevalent countries. Researchers are also looking into the virus’s potential connection to Guillan-Barre Syndrome, a temporary disorder in which the immune system attacks part of the nervous system. With earlier cases in Africa and Southeast Asia, the virus has been detected in more than 30 countries, most recently with an outbreak in the Americas.

No mosquitoes have been found to be carrying Zika in Queensland and although 10 cases have been reported in the state since 2014, none were on the Sunshine Coast and each was found to have been brought in by someone returning from overseas.

“How can they ask these women not to become pregnant, but not offer … the possibility to stop their pregnancies?” spokeswoman Cecile Pouilly told reporters. State health officials say the individual has fully recovered.

Those who live in these countries and territories should protect themselves by “rigorously using mosquito protection” such as wearing repellent, long sleeves and trousers, using air conditioning and screens, Frieden said.

For now, Sweeney says Ohioans should not worry about Zika, unless cases from human contact spike. The hospital is still awaiting test results to confirm the case.

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He said that calls for pregnant women to take special precautions, and suggested they avoid kissing people other than a regular partner or sharing cutlery, glasses and plates with people who have symptoms of the virus. Plans also are being drawn up to combat the Aedes aegypti mosquito that carries the virus.

A municipal health worker fumigates the restroom of a school as part of the city's efforts to prevent the spread of the Zika virus vector the Aedes aegypti mosquito at the Nueva Suyapa neighbourhood in Tegucigalpa Honduras