“Our analysis underscores the importance of urgent action to halt the spread of the Zika virus and to protect the health and well-being of people in the affected countries”, said World Bank President Jim Yong Kim. Pregnant women are at risk if their unborn babies are exposed to the virus, which can lead to birth defects.
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A report making the rounds online claims that a larvicide called pyriproxyfen – not the Zika virus – is behind the recent surge in the cases of microcephaly in Brazil, CBS News reported.
In a study in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, the scientists said their finding suggests Zika virus can cross the placental barrier, but does not prove it causes microcephaly, a condition in which babies are born with abnormally small heads.
The minister said that he met with USA officials to discuss cooperating on – within one year – developing a vaccine against the virus and therapy to treat people who contract Zika.
“The MSDH is working with medical partners across the state to ensure that the most current national guidelines for preventing and testing for Zika are being followed”, said Dr. Dobbs.
The virus has been linked to severe birth defects in thousands of babies in Brazil.
Due to the climate the mosquitoes that carry and transmit the virus do not live in Canada, says Alberta Health, and human-to-human transmission is rare.
$14.2 million would go toward care of people affected by the virus, especially childbearing-age women, pregnant women, and families with children affected by the virus.
Researchers have confirmed more than 460 of these cases as microcephaly and identified evidence of Zika infection in 41 of them. This species is rarely, if ever, found in most of the United States, including Utah.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said it requires $56 million to implement the recently launched global Zika virus strategy.
Half of the statewide cases are among residents of two South Florida counties: Miami-Dade, with 7 cases, and Broward, with 4. That forecast, however, assumes the worldwide response to the Zika outbreak is swift and well-coordinated.
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Zika virus is spread by Aedes species mosquitos, which now have traveled as far north as Washington, D.C. But there have been a few cases of sexual transmission, so use a condom if you’re planning on having sex and pregnant.
