It is part of $25 million in funding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded Friday to states, cities, and territories.
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“While it is good news that the State of CT is receiving $320,564 to support the preparedness and response effort, this funding will not make up the lost preparedness funding due to Congressional inaction on the Administration’s emergency Zika Response”, she said in a statement.
“A traveler with a Zika infection who is asymptomatic, as most Zika-infected people are, could be bitten by a mosquito, which could spread the virus when it bites someone else”.
All of the cases are travel-related and no one has contracted Zika from being bitten by a mosquito in the state.
Experts have warned the continental United States will likely see mosquito-borne transmission this summer.
President Obama spent Friday morning receiving the latest update on the spread of the Zika virus from the nation’s top health officials, and issued a warning to Congress to pass funding to combat Zika that has been stalled for months.
A trap holds mosquitos at the Dallas County Mosquito Lab, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016, in Hutchins, Texas, that had been set up near the location of a confirmed Zika virus infection. “Mosquito Control has been preparing and are poised to control any additional Zika cases that may occur”, said Charlotte County Mosquito Control Manager Scott Schermerhorn.
DiOrio also said, however, that there is no state requirement to release info on Zika cases to the public. Funding can also be used to purchase preparedness resources like repellent, screens, and supplies for Zika Prevention Kits.
Zika virus is usually a mild illness.
According to the BoH, 4 out of 5 people infected with the virus do not have any symptoms. The other, Aedes aegypti, tends to be in hotter areas farther south.
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The most common carrier of the Zika virus, the yellow fever mosquito, is not found in CT. There is, however, a link between the virus and certain birth defects that can attack the immune system and cause paralysis. Forty-three of the cases involved pregnant women.
