However, Ferreira was circumspect in interpreting her discovery, stressing that most people whose nervous systems have been affected by Zika virus don’t show brain symptoms and that the link between Zika and ADEM is yet to be established. Last week, the White House redirected $589 million, most of which was originally designated for Ebola, to combat the Zika virus, but according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), more money is needed.
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Officials are also asking for more government funding to continue research, because if they don’t get it they might have to start using funds set aside for other medical diseases and disorders. So far, all 346 cases of the Zika virus that the CDC has recorded within the continental United States have been associated with travel; there has yet to be a reported case of local acquisition. All six patients tested positive for Zika virus.
Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are now saying that the Zika virus could be serious and that they are anxious about the impact.
The CDC also learned that the virus is likely to be a problem at much of the pregnancy period, not just probably the first trimester but potentially throughout the pregnancy.
And now tropical disease experts are warning microcephaly could ravage parts of the USA like the Gulf Coast. The situation is considerably more dire in the US territory of Puerto Rico, where, Schuchat said, “the virus is spreading throughout the island”. However, the bill does not provide the $1.9 billion in emergency funding President Obama wanted. “So the answer is we don’t have what we need, but we’re still going full blast by drawing money from other areas”.
The same study suggested that microcephaly-a severe birth defect believed to be linked to the virus, which causes babies to be born with abnormally small skulls and incomplete brain development-isn’t the only disastrous complication that Zika can cause in a pregnancy.
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The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) has confirmed the first two cases of zika virus disease in Saint Lucia.
