Public health officials are investigating 17 cases of the Zika virus in Florida that they suspect of being locally transmitted.
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“This is not only an issue affecting us here in Florida – this is a national issue”.
The infant’s mother had traveled to Latin America during her pregnancy and was infected there by the virus, according to the Department of State Health Services. It is the second Zika-related death reported in the continental United States.
Test results linking the death to Zika were confirmed Friday. The mother and baby are classified as travel-related cases and there is no additional associated risk in Texas.
The only other confirmed Zika-related death in the USA was that of an elderly Utah man who died in June.
A CDC spokesman told AFP by email that the agency is aware of the news from Texas but offered no further details.
The death of an infant, born with the microcephaly birth defect near Houston, has been linked to the Zika virus.
Joining us to talk about that story and more, including funding for the Zika virus, is U.S. Rep Robin Kelly, a Democrat whose 2nd District includes the area where O’Neal was shot.
Texas has reported 97 cases of Zika, including two infants with microcephaly. Rick Scott said today.
All four cases probably came from mosquito bites in the Wynwood area, the only site of active transmission in the United States.
Last week, department officials confirmed the eighth travel-related case of the Zika virus in Arkansas, also in a resident who had recently visited the Caribbean. But Republicans in Washington disagreed, saying the money should be moved from funds previously set aside for Ebola. “I would very much urge the leadership of Congress to call people back for a special session and get a bill passed”.
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“So pass the bipartisan bill from the Senate or come up with a new compromise that does the same”.
