Mujica is one out of 44 women in the United States who has tested positive for the Zika virus, according to the CDC.
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Dr. Catherine M. Brown, deputy state epidemiologist, gave a presentation on Zika at the request of the Public Health Council, an appointed board of physicians, academics, and consumer advocates that sets health policy.
While the virus has remained primarily active in South America, Central America and the Caribbean, 472 cases in the US have been identified, according to the CDC. Six of the patients tested have been positive for travel-related Zika, including these two most recent cases.
Worries about the Zika Virus overseas led Major League Baseball to relocate a planned Marlins-Pirates game that was supposed to be held in Puerto Rico.
Once the genetically modified pregnant mice were infected with Zika virus, the researchers were able to observe the transmission of the virus to the mouse fetus. Mostly we need to be educating the public, making sure theyre aware of the potential risks that are now in well over 30 countries and territories, she says.
The initiative launched yesterday, aimed at promoting the elimination of mosquito breeding sites, avoiding mosquito bites and protecting pregnant women from the Zika virus. Common symptoms include fever, rash, joint pain, or conjunctivitis (red eyes).
In neither experiment did the mice develop microcephaly, but researchers said this could come down to biological differences between people and mice.
It is spread through two types of mosquito: Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus.
One area they’re concerned about is a “tiny” nonresidential area of New Bedford, and they’re working with local mosquito control officials to up surveillance, she added. Specifically it goes into researching the link between Zika, microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome, along with developing better ways of testing for the virus, studying how it gets transmitted, and finding better ways of preventing transmission from mosquitoes.
“Zika is a very real public health threat”, said Sen, John Barrasso, R-Wyo., a doctor. And as they have learned more about the virus, government health officials have tried to raise concerns without sounding alarmist.
“Unlike in humans, a significant amount of neurodevelopment in mice actually occurs after birth, especially in the cerebral cortex, which is the part of the brain damaged in microcephaly”, Diamond said.
Are there co-factors that precipitate the birth defects/fetal losses?
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“This remains an evolving situation”, Brown said. “Most of these babies’ mothers were infected by the Zika virus”, Qin said.
