“Canada is working with blood donation organizations to really look at the period of deferral for blood donations”, says Tam.
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“From what we know of microcephaly in different situations, it is a very serious condition”.
Canadian Blood Services says it will stop accepting blood donations from people returning from countries hit by the outbreak.
“The government, churches, football teams, labor unions… everyone must do their part to eliminate the breeding grounds”, she said.
I think everyone, especially those of us who are pregnant, are scared, she said.
The WHO said a direct causal relationship between Zika virus infection and birth defects has not yet been established but is strongly suspected. To complicate matters, Zika often mirrors the dengue or chikungunya viruses.
“At this point, it’s associated with a mosquito that we don’t get in north Iowa – but things change”, Mathre said. “So right now the risk of contracting the Zika virus from a mosquito bite in Pennsylvania is not a possibility”.
The union health ministry said on Friday it is making sure that India is well prepared against cases of Zika virus that has already caused much damage in Brazil and elsewhere in the Americas.
– Orange County’s Department of Health has announced that an Orange County resident who recently traveled to South America has tested positive for the Zika virus. Today the virus is found throughout South America, Central America, and the Caribbean.
The mosquito-borne Zika virus – a pathogen which was virtually unheard of till some days ago – is spreading so fast that it can infect almost four million people in the Americas in next 12 months if not tackled well within time and the threat has now reached India.
Dr Chan said that an emergency meeting of the global health regulations committee would take place in Geneva on Monday.
In Brazil, the Zika virus has been linked to cases of microcephaly, or abnormally small heads in newborns.
Meanwhile, Brazil is struggling to cope with a surge in microcephaly cases – in which babies are born with unusually small heads – with almost 4,000 suspected cases since the outbreak began a year ago.
The campaign aims to tell people about Zika’s symptoms, how to avoid it and how to eliminate areas where it breeds.
“It’s from the mosquito, an infected mosquito that bites you and that’s when you can get the virus”. Pregnant women who have traveled to these areas should consult their physician immediately.
Researchers are also looking into a potential tie between Zika infections and cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, which can cause temporary paralysis.
JOSUE DECAVELE/REUTERS A government campaign poster warns about Zika virus symptoms in the maternity ward in Guatemala on Thursday.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is advising pregnant women to avoid travel in areas where Zika is active.
Another is a more traditional live attenuated vaccine, building on a similar approach used to create a vaccine for dengue virus, Fauci said.
Zika had been viewed as a relatively mild illness until Brazilian health officials identified it as a matter of concern for pregnant women.
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A worker at a maternity hospital in El Salvador talks to pregnant women about how to prevent the mosquito-born virus Zika.
