Health officials are closely monitoring the spread of the Zika virus. “There’s a big need to wear mosquito repellent, is the bottom line”, Peterson said.
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EMS Administrator. The head of the Centers for Disease Control told a congressional committee that scientists have found the strongest evidence to date linking Zika to the birth defect microcephaly.
Ana Beatriz, a 4-month-old girl with microcephaly, a feared complication of the Zika virus, is seen February 8, 2016, in Lagoa do Carro, Pernambuco, Brazil. “It can bite four or five people in the course of one blood meal, meaning it can spread disease quickly”, he said.
In the Lehigh case, state health officials have indicated that “there is no additional health risk to anyone on campus”, university vice provost John Smeaton said in a health advisory.
Brazil, which is grappling with cases of microcephaly, and Colombia are the countries most affected by the mosquito-borne disease in the Americas.
“At this point we don’t want Dallas County or North Texas residents to be alarmed, because we have not identified any mosquitoes in the area carrying the Zika virus”, Thompson said.
The unidentified Yolo County resident who tested positive for the virus had recently traveled out of the country and only has a mild case of the virus, according to a statement issued Wednesday by the CDC.
The student recovered from the mosquito-born virus, which causes fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis and could be linked to birth defects in children born to women who contracted it while pregnant.
The World Health Organization has declared the Zika virus a global public health emergency. They also genetically sequenced the virus, which could help further research into the suspected link.
And nonpregnant adults don’t need to alter their travel plans because the virus often doesn’t cause symptoms and, when it does, the symptoms are mild.
It is also working to provide public health laboratories with diagnostic tests and detect and report cases both domestically and internationally, the White House said. Mosquitoes can breed in as little amount of water as a bottle cap.
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Still, Thompson said he is still most concerned about the West Nile virus locally.
