“Condoms serve two important functions – preventing conception and stopping the spread of disease”, said Dr. Awe Maduka-Ezeh, medical director for the state division of public health.
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Although there’s much unknown about the virus, researchers are finding that it is strongly associated with birth abnormalities.
Dr. Florence Fouque, one of the WHO’s leading experts on vectors, the animals that carry viruses, explains the organization’s rationale in pointing fingers at Aedes aegypti: The black-and-white mosquitoes have been shown in lab tests to be extremely efficient at transmitting Zika, she says.
The impending move comes as there’s greater urgency to battle the Zika virus as summer weather leads to mosquito season and a potential broader spread of the virus.
Gerardo Ulibarri started changing and modifying the traditional ovitraps in order to catch the mosquitoes which spread West Nile virus in Canada then after the initial experiment he focused on devising traps to capture mosquitoes that spread dengue in Guatemala.
The lack of awareness contrasts with Washington, where the Obama administration is preparing for the worst, and has requested billions of dollars to try to push development of a vaccine and to target the mosquito blamed for spreading the virus.
Pressed to say if locals should be given the option to abort the baby if it was confirmed that he/she had developed microcephaly, Gopeesingh said that was a debate that could not be resolved by religious ministers, judges or even the government but rather by the citizens. It recommends pregnant women consider postponing travel to areas where the virus is present, and if she goes, to follow steps to avoid mosquito bites, including applying repellent with DEET as directed.
Sixty-five Delawareans have been tested so far for Zika virus.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that between January 1 and March 9, 193 Zika cases were reported in the U.S. Thirty-three were in Miami-Dade County and 12 were in Broward County, where global travel is common.
Riverside County has not had any confirmed Zika cases, health department spokesman Jose Arballo said Thursday. Since being discovered in the Zika forest decades ago, the virus has now been reported in countries outside the African continent. The health department would not identify the men and women in any way other than saying they had visited areas of the Americas where the virus is rampant.
Brazil said it has confirmed more than 940 cases of microcephaly, and considers most to be related to Zika infections in the mothers.
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Zika, and other many mosquito-borne illnesses are considered “mandatory reports”, the state said in a release, meaning they must be reported to the Division of Public Health.
