The first known case of Zika virus transmission in the United States was reported in Texas on Tuesday by local health officials, who said it likely was contracted through sex and not a mosquito bite, a day after the World Health Organization declared an worldwide public health emergency, APA reports quoting Reuters. In the meantime, health officials in England are suggesting that men returning from Zika-regions use condoms for a month and that men who have been infected with the Zika virus use condoms for six months.
Advertisement
Governor Rick Scott signed the emergency order on Wednesday, covering Miami-Dade, Lee, Hillsborough and Santa Rosa counties, where the cases of infection were detected.
Pregnant women are the most at risk when it comes to the Zika virus, as the most adverse symptoms present in babies.
Health officials believe none of the cases originated in Florida.
The Zika virus, which is found in the Pacific Islands and in parts of Africa, has become a health crisis in several South and Central American countries and some Caribbean islands.
Meanwhile, health officials in Florida’s neighbouring state of Georgia confirmed its first Zika case on Wednesday.
The cases investigated in Dallas County were not transmitted by mosquitoes, but sex.
“Our Department of Health will continue to be in constant communication with all county health offices, hospitals and the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)”. Scientists say the hotter it gets, the better the mosquito that carries Zika virus is at transmitting a variety of risky illnesses. Townsend says it’s only a matter of time before Zika reaches Arizona.
Last week, Daily Star Online revealed that the aedes aegypti mosquito, which carries the virus, has been spotted in Kent and West Sussex.
One major problem is that, under Brazilian law, it is illegal for researchers and institutions to share genetic material, including blood samples containing Zika and other viruses. Based on this new development, INFORMATION NIGERIA has put together the 6 things you need to know about Zika virus…
Advertisement
Zika has already spread “explosively” to over 30 countries and the WHO claim the virus should be considered “a public health emergency of global concern”.
