“Thus far, we have found no mosquitoes infected with Zika virus”, he announced during a press conference.
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So far, the 11 cases of Zika confirmed in Polk County have all been travel-related.
Health experts in the United States have been watching closely for the arrival of Zika, which has been shown to cause a birth defect called microcephaly marked by small heads and undersized brains that can cause severe developmental problems.
“There’s so much we don’t know”, said Rebecca Ward, an epidemiology specialist with UDOH. When used as directed, these are safe and effective, even for pregnant and breastfeeding women.
Montana has been awarded $195,000 in federal funding to help fight and prevent the Zika virus. Brazilian researchers cautioned that more study is needed to ascertain why the virus has been found in mosquitoes in one section of the country and not in others and how often the mosquito is transmitting the virus to humans.
For more information on the Zika virus, you can go to the Georgia Department of Public Health website.
Meanwhile, city and county officials are mainly focused on the home of a person whom they believe may have contracted the Zika virus locally, and not while traveling.
Local transmission is defined by the US Zika response plan as cases ruling out sex with an infected partner and travel to a location rife with the virus, that occur within a 1-mile diameter over a one month span of time.
While the infection’s spread is centered in South and Central America and the Caribbean, 12 children have been born with Zika-related birth defects nationwide, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
She stressed the guidance that pregnant women and those trying to become pregnant should avoid travel to places where the Zika virus is being transmitted.
The money announced Thursday comes from the CDC’s Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Infectious Diseases Cooperative Agreement. Florida’s health department is also trapping mosquitos and testing them for Zika, though as of this writing, there have been no positive tests confirmed by the department.
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U.S. health officials recently reported a total of 1,306 cases of Zika in the continental United States and Hawaii. Symptoms include fever, rash, joint pain and itchy eyes.
