Florida has a total of 42 confirmed Zika cases, the health department said, including 17 in Miami-Dade and six in Broward.
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The guidance is part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to protect human cellular, tissue and blood products from potential contamination with Zika virus, which has spread to at least 36 countries and territories, mostly in the Americas, since it appeared in Brazil previous year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
What should I do if I am pregnant and have traveled to an area where Zika is found?
The World Health Organization (WHO) – which has declared the rise in Zika-linked birth defects an global emergency – warns the virus will probably spread throughout the Americas except Canada and Chile.
Two Ashburton women, both aged in their 30s, were confirmed as having the Zika virus in February after visiting Samoa and North Canterbury woman Piliniuote Fifita, 40, contracted the virus in January after visiting Tonga.
Zika poses the greatest risk to unborn babies of mothers who become infected with the virus.
The first case of Zika virus in Philly has been reported, ABC Philly reports. The virus is suspected of causing a serious birth defect – abnormally small heads – in children born to infected pregnant women. The time from exposure to symptoms for the Zika virus disease is not known, but is likely to be a few days to a week.
Senator Bob Casey (D-Pa.), who led a 2013 effort to reestablish an outbreak preparedness law, released a statement yesterday calling on the national government to take action in wake of the confirmed case in Philadelphia.
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CDC officials also said they were investigating 10 additional reports of pregnant travelers with Zika, but the Washington state case is not included in that count, said Dr. Scott Lindquist, the state epidemiologist for communicable disease. In any trimester, they should consider postponing travel to areas where Zika virus is spreading. She is not pregnant and has full recovered from the virus, according to state officials. About 80 percent of those infected with the virus do not develop any symptoms.
