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Free Zika virus tests being offered to pregnant women in Florida

Infants infected with the Zika virus before birth can also have eye defects, hearing loss and impaired growth. San Luis Obispo is not among those 12 counties, which are: Alameda, Fresno, Imperial, Kern, Los Angelees, Madera, Orange, Riversise, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Mateo and Tulare.

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As concerns about Zika virus intensify nationwide, IN health officials reported there have been 23 cases IN the Hoosier State.

“If you’re pregnant and you want to get a free test, you can do that”, Scott said at a Zika roundtable with community leaders Wednesday in Panama City.

An Aedes aegypti mosquito is seen through a microscope at Colombia’s National Institute of Health in Bogota, Colombia, Tuesday, April 26, 2016. The Department of Defense said it is continuing to monitor USA bases that could be at risk to the virus that is spread by mosquitos.

Pregnant women who traveled to this area on or after June 15 (when officials suspect is the earliest date a person could have become infected) should speak with their health care providers about being tested for Zika.

The CNN/ORC poll conducted between July 29 and July 31 that was released Wednesday reports that 5 percent of respondents said they were “very worried” about themselves or someone in their family contracting the Zika virus.

Zika infection during pregnancy can cause babies to be born with unusually small heads, called microcephaly. Although mosquitoes that can carry the virus have been found in 12 California counties, the department said there is no evidence those mosquitoes have transmitted the virus to any California resident. The mayor and Claudia Riegel, director of mosquito control, said there will be more door-to-door efforts to combat the spread of Zika.

More than 1,600 cases of the virus have been reported across the continental USA, almost all contracted by people who traveled overseas or through sexual transmission.

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The good news is that for most people Zika is a rather benign virus with mild symptoms and minimal effects.

Florida is offering Zika tests for pregnant women as 33 US military members contracted the virus