The Florida health department said it has identified an additional case of Zika in Miami-Dade County, where it was already investigating a possible case of Zika not related to travel, and another case in Broward County, where it has been investigating a non-travel related case. According to Colombia’s Ministry of Health, nearly 9,000 cases were confirmed by lab tests.
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Doctors at the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) have released new guidelines aimed at urging women at risk of contracting the disease to wait two months before trying to conceive. “Reports and investigations from several countries strongly suggest that sexual transmission is more common than previously assumed”.
To date, there are 381 cases of the virus in Florida; 53 of them are pregnant women.
Although most Zika infections are mild, the disease can cause miscarriages and catastrophic brain damage in fetuses, according to the CDC.
Previously the United Nations agency had advised pregnant women to consider deferring non-essential travel to areas with ongoing transmission of the mosquito-borne virus, which is spreading through Latin America, including Olympics host Brazil.
Vaccines made from weakened viruses are contraindicated in pregnant women, whose immune systems are suppressed.
“There is no specific treatment or vaccine now available for Zika virus infection and the best form of protection is prevention”, said Dr Beneby.
It is typically transmitted through bites from the Aedes species of mosquitoes. The two locations are also the sites of the two suspected local cases reported last week. The agency also warned pregnant women to avoid to areas with Zika outbreaks.
A 34-year-old man who likely has the Zika virus has traveled to an area with active Zika virus transmission, according to the Sacramento County Division of Public Health.
State and federal health officials have been working to confirm whether Zika is indeed spreading locally. The symptoms of Zika are typically mild, which makes it even more risky because people who are infected often don’t feel sick.
“About 20 per cent of people who are infected will experience fever, headache, conjunctivitis (pink eye), rash, and joint and muscle pain for a few days”.
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The Zika virus also has been linked to a rare paralyzing condition called Guillain-Barre syndrome.
