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.
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The North Carolina Department of Health says a patient contracted Zika while traveling overseas. Ontarians travelling to regions affected with Zika virus should protect themselves by taking protective measures to prevent mosquito bites and consult their health care provider before traveling. The CDC is also investigating a possible link between Zika virus infection and Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare neurological condition which causes varying degrees of paralysis.
Castro said Brazil was making the reporting of all Zika cases mandatory, a step that had not been taken before due to the lack of kits to test for Zika that has hindered collection of more accurate statistics.
People infected with Zika typically have a mild fever, skin rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain and fatigue that can last for two to seven days. Tonga has declared a Zika epidemic after five cases were confirmed and more than 260 suspected infections were identified.
Meanwhile, the head of the World Health Organisation’s Zika response team is predicting that Brazil will host a “fantastic Olympics” and that the mosquito-borne virus will be “way down” by the time the Games begin in Rio de Janeiro on August 5. The bank’s economic forecasts, however, assume that the worldwide response to the Zika outbreak will be swift and well-coordinated and that the most significant health risks are for pregnant women.
Pregnant women infected with Zika virus can pass it to her unborn child. The Department of Health recommends that all pregnant women consider postponing their travelling to areas where Zika virus transmission is ongoing.
Babies whose mothers are infected with the virus at the start of their pregnancies are at a higher risk of developing the debilitating disorder, said Aylward.
Efforts to control the spread of the virus focus on eliminating mosquito breeding sites and taking precautions against mosquito bites such as using insect repellent and mosquito nets.
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The ministry said that the objective is to raise the awareness of students of the importance of eliminating the breeding ground of the mosquito that also transmits dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.
