That brings the total number of countries or territories on the list to 32, including Puerto Rico, Brazil, Guatemala and Mexico. An estimated eight out of 10 people infected with Zika experience no symptoms at all. But Dr. Nick White, a tropical disease expert who has researched mosquito-borne diseases for decades at Thailand’s Mahidol University, called Taiwan’s travel guidance “excessive”.
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“It’s an association of microcephaly”. Many cases of newborn babies born with micro-cephaly (with the smaller size of the head) have been attributed to this virus.
Officials declined to reveal the identity of the patient or where he or she lives due to privacy rules but said the adult patient’s symptoms “have resolved”.
What Does the Virus Do?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Zika virus typically causes a mild rash, fever and joint pain. The virus has swept through much of the Americas and could be linked to birth defects and rare but severe complications.
However, Aylward said it may only take weeks to establish a link between Zika and Guillian-Barre syndrome, a neurological disorder which causes muscle weakness.
Travelers visiting areas where Zika transmissions have occurred are encouraged to wear long-sleeved shirts and long trousers, use EPA-registered insect repellents, use permethrin-treated clothing, stay and sleep in screened-in or air-conditioned rooms and limit outdoor activities during peak mosquito times. But Aedes aegypti is a serious problem: the mosquito carries both the malaria parasite and dengue fever as well as Zika. The Aedes albopictus species has also been identified as a potential carrier.
World Health Organization has also initiated an emergency R&D response plan, which according to the strategy “is the first attempt (post-Ebola virus disease) to implement the WHO’s R&D Blueprint”, which was established in 2015 and aims to implement a roadmap for R&D preparedness and emergency R&D response for priority pathogens.
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The World Health Organization is scrambling to address this virus that’s spreading rapidly through Latin America and the Caribbean. North Carolina health officials say there are no known cases of the virus being spread in in North Carolina or elsewhere in the continental United States, with the exception of one infection in Texas attributed to sexual transmission. To start, just “star” this story in ABC News’ phone app. Download ABC News for iPhone here or ABC News for Android here.
