The World Health Organization (WHO) said sexual transmission is “relatively common” and has advised pregnant women not to travel to areas with ongoing outbreaks of Zika virus.
Advertisement
The U.S. must act more quickly to protect pregnant women from birth defect-causing Zika, a top health official said Thursday even as the House left town for its Memorial Day recess with no visible progress toward a congressional compromise on emergency funding to battle the virus.
U.S. President Barack Obama has recently slammed the Congress for refusing to support his request for a $1.9 billion fund to combat the spreading of Zika virus in the country after latest statistics showed that there were nearly 300 pregnant women who tested positive for Zika in America.
Zika symptoms include fever, rash, eye and joint pain.
Previously, Zika tests in Florida were available only through the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and handled by two of the state’s three public health laboratories, initially creating concerns about test availability and possible backlogs. Brazil’s Ministry of Health has confirmed 1,434 cases of microcephaly that it believes are related to Zika infection throughout the country, according to data released this week.
While Zika’s symptoms are mild, in the letter the experts say it causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads and may also cause a rare and sometimes fatal neurological syndrome in adults. CDC has issued travel notices (level 2, “practice enhanced precautions”) for people traveling to destinations with Zika.
Public Health Madison and Dane County (PHMDC) has received notification that Zika virus infection has been confirmed in a woman residing in Dane County. What began as coordinating a response to Zika that is rooted in smart public health policy and caring for our fellow citizens became a funding fight on Capitol Hill in which many conservatives seem completely divorced from reality – particularly the reality of low-income women and children of color living in the South.
Still, they said there are limitations to the report. But more research is needed to determine the role of Aedes albopictus, which also is capable of transmitting the virus and has a broader geographic range but does not feed on humans as much as Aedes aegypti does. This disease occurs in babies of mothers who are infected with the Zika Virus while pregnant. The long-term health consequences of Zika infection are unclear.
Advertisement
The PAHO said Zika can be transmitted through blood, but this is an infrequent transmission mechanism. Other uncertainties surround the incubation period of the virus and how Zika interacts with other viruses that are transmitted by mosquitoes, such as dengue.
