The CDC also expanded its travel warning for pregnant women and those considering becoming pregnant to avoid 24 areas in Latin America and the Caribbean that have seen cases of Zika virus.
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The Zika virus has been known since the 1950s, but is getting more attention after infected mosquitos are popping up in African countries, and in Central America and South America.
In a statement early this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned pregnant woman from travelling to countries hit by Zika Virus.
Health Minister Jane Philpott said Wednesday that there have been no cases of locally transmitted Zika virus in Canada.
Marcos Espinal, head of communicable diseases at PAHO – the WHO’s Americas arm – said a study would soon be published suggesting a correlation between Zika and microcephaly – babies born with small heads and brains – in Brazil.
The fight against Zika virus, which causes birth defects in the brain, should focus on the extermination of mosquitoes that spread it, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said.
Concern is spreading about Zika Virus with the arrival of a handful of new diagnoses among Americans.
Health experts say such cases are to be expected in Europe, given the scale of the outbreak in South America and the frequency of global travel. Russell said. “So anyone traveling should be coming to us if they’re in Flathead County”.
When asked if the patient had traveled through the US, the doctor confirmed the patient did not enter the United States.
The disease is spread when certain species of mosquito bite an infected person, and then go on to bite another person. “Because it is not mosquito season in Virginia, this individual with Zika virus infection poses no risk to other Virginians”.
Since November, CNN reports there have already been more than 4,000 reported cases of microcephaly in babies in Brazil, where the outbreak began; there were 146 cases there in 2014.
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The symptoms of the virus includes joint ache, rashes, mild fever, headache and inflammation of the eyes.
