“CDC recommends that all pregnant women with sex partners (male or female), who live in or traveled to an area with Zika, use condoms during sex or abstain from sex for the remainder of their pregnancy”, the agency said.
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According to the new rules, employees who are eligible for maternity leave (considering the general rules) will have the right to 180 days of maternity leave if their child is infected by any of the diseases transmitted by the yellow fever mosquito, including the Zika virus and Chikungunya fever.
Those travelling to Brazil for the Olympics face a small risk of getting infected with the virus, USA researchers said on Monday.
“New information has indicated that some infected pregnant women can have evidence of Zika virus in their blood for longer than the previously recommended seven-day window for testing after symptoms begin, and that even pregnant women without symptoms can have evidence of the virus in their blood and urine”, the agency said.
Brazos County Environmental Health Specialist Kurt Johnson says even though there will be more people in a place where Zika is present, the risk of spreading the Virus in the USA are minimal because of tourist accommodations. The other case resulted from sexual transmission.
The case is believed to be the first in Europe. That case involved a woman in Miami-Dade County, while the newer, second case involved a resident of Broward County, north of Miami.
The virus is primarily transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito, but it can also be spread through sexual contact.
The new Zika funding, about $60 million, is being distributed through CDC’s Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Infectious Diseases Cooperative Agreement, which supports an array of federal projects to strengthen the ability of domestic public health departments to respond to emerging and re-emerging infectious disease threats. Infections have also been reported in other Latin American and Caribbean nations. Their projections for Zika are largely consistent with annual, region-wide estimates of 53 million infections by the dengue virus (2010), which has many similarities to Zika.
Activities related to CDC’s Antibiotic Resistance Solutions Initiative, aimed at the growing threat of antimicrobial resistant bacteria, as well as activities to reduce healthcare-associated infections.
If couples are unsure if they’ve been exposed to Zika virus, they should wait at least eight weeks in general, they add. Only about 20 percent of patients notice symptoms.
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This Q&A will tell you what you need to know about Zika.
