The virus is causing worldwide concern among public heath officials.
Advertisement
Health officials have advised women who are pregnant or who might decide to become pregnant to avoid travel to areas affected by Zika virus.
The Georgia Department of Health confirmed today the first travel-related case of the Zika virus in the state.
The virus, which may be connected to thousands of birth defects in the Americas, is primarily spread through mosquito bites, but investigators had been exploring the possibility it could be sexually transmitted. And Ebola really was a awful lesson about how the world failed to respond effectively, and so the World Health Organization-lots of public health agencies-are under the microscope to get Zika right. It has also started a country-wide campaign by spraying and encouraging the removal of possible stagnant water that are breeding grounds for the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which carries the virus.
More information on the state’s testing program is available at 1-888-364-4723 or on the state Department of Health’s website.
The virus, which is prevalent in Mexico and Central and South America, is transmitted by mosquitoes and through sexual activity and the most common symptoms are fever, rash and joint pain.
Experts told The Hill it is not a serious threat to most Americans, especially because our population is more spread out and more likely to use air conditioning and window screens. But the number of locally acquired cases statewide dropped to six the following year and just one last year.
Puerto Rico also is reporting its first case of a pregnant woman with Zika.
“I think it’s going to be hard to keep the mosquitoes out of here”, another passenger, Terrance Rogers said. The CDC has already recommended pregnant women postpone trips to more than two dozen countries with Zika outbreaks, mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Venezuela.
But since the types of mosquito that can carry the Zika virus, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, are both found in Florida, health officials are anxious that an infected person could be bitten by a local mosquito. Since past year, the virus has exploded in Brazil and is believed to be the cause of birth defects in hundreds of newborns in that nation.
Advertisement
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says there are no approved tests for routine screening of blood donations for Zika virus, but it is looking into the issue.
