However, there is ongoing risk to Ontarians travelling to regions affected with Zika virus.
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Although the Aedes aegypti has lost ground to the West Nile virus-carrying Asian Tiger mosquito, according to researchers at the University of Florida, it’s still common in Louisiana, the Gulf region of Texas and Florida.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) ” The Jamaica Ministry of Health has confirmed the Caribbean country’s first case of the Zika virus.
While the virus has been transmitted from an infected mother to an unborn baby, and some infected women have given birth to infants with microcephaly, how the virus and congenital defects link is still a question mark, Dr. Kurt Barnhart said.
Evidence is strong Zika could be causing pregnant women to miscarry or deliver babies with abnormally small brains.
Colombian Deputy Health Minister Fernando Ruiz said Friday that his country has recorded 41 cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome that appear to be linked to Zika infections. This might not happen in the case of Zika virus when the World Health Organization will convene an emergency committee on February 1 (Monday) to help determine the level of the global response to the outbreak.
“But what we haven’t had is evidence of the spread of the infection from one person to another in this country”. U.S. President Barack Obama spoke on Friday with Rousseff about the spread of the virus, the White House said. “It’s what we don’t know about Zika”.
“I think it’s a question of being alert but not alarmed”, he said.
“So when the virus gets in there and you’ve got the right mosquitoes – vectors to carry the virus – then the population aren’t immune, so the transmission in the community can be really rapid”.
Health officials are advising pregnant women and those planning pregnancy to adopt necessary anti-mosquito precautions, and consider deferring travel. All had recently traveled to countries caught in the middle of the outbreak.
The Ministry of Health said it had received nine Zika notifications this year, the newspaper reported.
While Paes’ optimism is encouraging, Dengue fever, the Chikungunya virus, and water polluted with human sewage remain issues for Brazil and Rio, which displaced tens of thousands of people living in slums while constructing venues for the Olympics.
“An increased occurrence of neurological symptoms, noted in some countries coincident with arrival of the virus, adds to the concern”.
The NIAID is now pursuing at least two approaches to a Zika vaccine.
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Increasingly, tropical disease is no longer confined to the tropics.
