Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff meanwhile called Wednesday for Latin America to launch a region-wide fight against the Zika virus, blamed for causing a surge in brain-damaged babies.
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Defense Department experts who have experience working with the Zika virus have been asked to support the Department of Health and Human Services in its efforts related to the mosquito-borne disease, the Pentagon press secretary said today. Most others will have mild symptoms, such as fever, joint soreness, rash or red eyes. “There is some concern that Guillan Barre Syndrome, a condition that leads to transient muscle weakness or paralysis, may be a rare complication of Zika virus infection, but we don’t yet know if this is true”.
WHO Director-General Margaret Chan was set to address the agency’s executive board in Geneva as countries took new steps on Wednesday to try to stop the mosquito-transmitted virus linked to the risky birth defect called microcephaly. “The mosquito density is much higher in poor areas of tropical countries than in most areas in the southern USA”, says Pavia. The South is seen as especially vulnerable because of its warm, humid climate and pockets of poverty where more people live without air-conditioning or proper window screens. Carnival Cruise Lines and its sister companies are allowing pregnant women and their spouses to switch to routes that don’t include Zika-hit countries or to rebook for later travel.
A health worker stands in the Sambadrome as he sprays insecticide to combat the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that transmits the Zika virus in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016.
Fauci discussed factors that could affect the spread of the virus in the United States and covered recent travel and clinical guidance issued by the CDC.
Just convening the meeting would focus attention on funding and research, they said in an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. While Zika has been found in breast milk, it’s not yet confirmed it can be passed to the baby through nursing.
Before past year, Zika was a risk only in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Pacific islands.
Brazilian officials believe Zika infections may be linked to a wave of cases of a rare severe birth defect known as microcephaly.
Representatives with infection control at Wadley Regional in Texarkana say no cases have been reported in the area and they were recently given CDC guidelines in case it does.
Beth Ranson, a spokeswoman for the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District, which has partnered with Oxitec for a proposed trial, said that before any altered bugs could be released there, the Food and Drug Administration must first complete an environment assessment of the project. Even once finalized, a local board would need to approve the trial – over the expected opposition of some Keys residents.
That’s because swarms of mosquitoes don’t survive the snow and cold of a Washington-area winter.
“We’ve always been aggressive…”
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About one in five people infected with Zika virus get sick, according to the CDC.
