Both women showed Zika-like symptoms during their pregnancies.
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To help residents resolve questions about the virus and its spread, the state has set up a Zika Virus Information Hotline. The virus has been found in Asia as far back as the 1960s. Up until the first outbreak in 2007, only 14 cases were reported globally.
Experts, however, are now questioning whether this standard assumption understates the actual percentage who become ill, saying the finding was made almost a decade ago in a vastly different setting: a sparsely populated island in Micronesia.
Health reporting on WMFE is supported in part by Florida Hospital and the Winter Park Health Foundation. It’s believed there have been more than 4,100 suspected or confirmed cases of microcephaly in Brazil, the epicenter of the outbreak.
Brazil usually reports about 150 cases of microcephaly annually.
Only about 20 percent of those infected will develop symptoms, which include fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes. Only one in five people infected with the virus are symptomatic.
Last week, the United States said enhanced public health entry screening for the Zika virus would not be effective since most people infected are asymptomatic, meaning they could not be identified during the screening process.
The high-level containment lab allows research on mosquito-borne viruses to be safely conducted.
That brings the total number of countries or territories on the list to 32, including Puerto Rico, Brazil, Guatemala and Mexico. Guillain-Barre syndrome is an autoimmune disorder where the body attacks the nervous system. There are many causes, both infectious and non-infectious.
By collecting data on these women, and comparing them to non-Zika-related births, researchers should be able to establish not only whether or not there’s a link between microcephaly and Zika, but also how high the risk is.
This was “very similar to what we did early days of Ebola”, he said. “I just wish I was going there, but there’s not going to be a lot of problems there by then, so I’ll be somewhere else”. Eliminate mosquito breeding grounds by not allowing water to collect around the home in roof gutters, flower pots or other containers.
Travelers visiting areas where Zika transmissions have occurred are encouraged to wear long-sleeved shirts and long trousers, use EPA-registered insect repellents, use permethrin-treated clothing, stay and sleep in screened-in or air-conditioned rooms and limit outdoor activities during peak mosquito times.
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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is involved in one such a study set to start next week in the Brazilian state of Paraiba.
