The U.S. Centers for Disease Control, or CDC, has recommended that pregnant women postpone travel to Zika-affected countries.
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The current Zika outbreak originated from Brazil, and has spread to other Southern American countries, Central America, the Caribbean, and also to North America.
While it has not been conclusively proven that Zika in pregnant women leads to their babies being born with microcephaly, there have been thousands of cases in Brazil and scientists have pointed to the probable link.
In the meantime FDA on Thursday said it will give the public another month to weigh in on a British company’s request to release its genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys, a trial targeting to cut the number of insects that carry Zika virus.
Imported local cases could result to the spread of the virus in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control; it can be transmitted through sexual contact, blood transfusion, or from a pregnant mother to her child.
He says Aedes aegypti is a worry, especially with zika growing in other parts of the world.
Referring to the protocol which Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said had been put in place to guide the monitoring and treatment of pregnant patients diagnosed with Zika, the former minister said it was something that the public “were yet to see”. “We can not wait for the fall”, Donovan said. The types of mosquitoes that can spread Zika virus live in Arkansas, are aggressive and can bite day or night.
But he said the situation is a strong reminder that women traveling to affected regions should take precautions to protect themselves from mosquitos.
While all of the cases reported in the United States have been travel-related, “it is a possibility” that there will be locally acquired cases in the future, Paoline told the commissioners.
A hospital in the Australian state of Queensland has expanded its capacity to screen for the Zika virus, the Queensland state government announced on Friday. Forbes agreed that OneBlood also would not collect blood in an affected area or ZIP code if the Zika infection was transmitted by a Florida mosquito.
“We have increased our surveillance within our health system to ensure the timely diagnosis”.
The Zika virus could now become a concern for MA residents as researchers continue to work to understand the illness.
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WHAT IT DOES: About 80 per cent of people infected by Zika don’t develop symptoms, but those who do experience fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes. “For this reason, people traveling to countries with Zika should avoid mosquito bites for three weeks after they return”.
