Aldighieri gave the estimate for Zika infections (including people who do not report clinical symptoms) based on data regarding the spread of a different mosquito-borne virus – dengue.
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The Aedes mosquito spreads diseases including Zika, dengue fever and chikungunya. So far, there have been no cases of transmission of the virus through mosquitoes in the United States, she said.
Right now, there are no vaccines to prevent Zika virus, which not only pregnant women but their fetuses can contract.
“We believe there could be a slowdown in bookings during this time of heightened media coverage and general fear until more information is known”, airline analyst Helane Becker of Cowen and Co said in a research note on Thursday.
After being first detected in 1947 in a monkey in Uganda, Zika was most often found along the equator from Africa into Asia.
France – which has logged five cases contracted by its citizens while travelling, urged women not to travel to French overseas territories in South America and the Caribbean.
The WHO has set up an International Health Regulations Emergency Committee to examine Zika and will meet on Monday to decide whether it constitutes a global emergency. The virus has been linked to more than 4,000 suspected cases of microcephaly in Brazil, a condition that causes infants to be born with underdeveloped brains and an abnormally small head.
World Health Organization describes the symptoms as a mild fever, skin rash (exanthema) and conjunctivitis – inflammation of the outermost layer of the eye and the inner surface of the eyelids, and says these symptoms normally last for 2-7 days.
Central and South America: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname and Venezuela.
The species of mosquito that transmits the virus is also not seen in the northeast, though it is prevalent in the southern United States.
The upcoming supreme court bid will argue that Brazil is responsible for the current Zika outbreak by failing to wipe out the Aedes mosquitoes that carry it, according to the BBC. A lot of people are getting sick and I think it’s appropriate for us to mobilize in this case. The creation of British company Oxitec, OX513A is created to stop the spread of Zika by passing along a gene that makes his offspring die. As a result, the NIH intends to immediately fill this deficit by funding and accelerating studies on the history of the disease, pathogenesis, diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics.
WHO’s deputy chief Bruce Aylward told reporters it was “very, very unlikely” it would issue warnings against travel to Brazil, while the head of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, said it will “do everything” in its power to keep the Games safe from the virus. He said the agency expects “huge numbers” of infections because of the widespread presence of the Aedes mosquitoes that spread Zika and because people in the region have no natural immunity.
Dr. Anthony Fauci says the Zika virus – suspected of being connected to microcephaly – hopefully can be kept at bay with “mosquito vector control”.
Complicating matters further, the Olympics in 2016 is to be held in Rio, the epicenter of the virus outbreak.
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The union health ministry said on Friday that it is making sure that India is well prepared against cases of Zika virus that has already caused much damage in the Americas.
