Health experts have confirmed a case of the Zika virus in MI, but doctors say it is not a threat to the rest of the state.
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The researchers said that it is not possible to extrapolate from a single case the overall risk for these outcomes faced by women who are exposed to the virus during pregnancy. Although the most typical symptoms of the virus are mild and similar to the flu, pregnant woman face more serious dangers: Cases of microcephaly, a birth defect that could causes a baby’s head to stop growing after birth, may be associated with the virus. And, yet, 32-weeks into her pregnancy, the expectant mother delivered a dead baby, which researchers believe may have been the result of the Zika virus.
The monthly Kaiser Health Tracking Poll for February looked at public perceptions of Zika and found a lot of Americans are keeping a close watch on developments surrounding the current outbreak in Central and South America.
Researchers said they subsequently confirmed the presence of Zika virus in the fetus, apparently the same strain now spreading throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.
Zika has been associated with the birth defect microcephaly and Guillain-Barre, a rare syndrome where the immune system attacks nerves. Although many people who are infected will not experience any symptoms.
Also this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that it is investigating 14 cases of potential Zika transmission through sex, rather than by mosquito bite.
The World Health Organization has urged countries to proceed as if Zika causes these birth defects. “I appreciate that the CDC has previously supplied Florida with these antibody tests and I ask that the CDC take immediate action to fulfill this request so we can continue to stay ahead of the possible spread of the Zika virus in Florida”.
Testing revealed Zika virus in the fetus’s brain, but not in any other tissues. In all of the cases, the virus was contracted while traveling outside the country. It is normally transmitted through bites by the Aedes mosquito.
Nor had she exhibited symptoms of other tropical mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue or chikungunya. The Lab will release 250,000 genetically modified mosquitoes in two neighborhoods with a large concentration of incident cases of egypti aedes mosquito, the modified mosquitoes compete with wild mosquitoes and replace them with non-Zika transmitting mosquitoes.
That’s how they learned Zika was present in the baby.
Sexual transmission of Zika virus can also occur, and public health officials encourage healthcare providers to remain alert for that, especially in patients who have recently traveled to countries with local transmission of the disease.
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“Things may get worse before it gets better, and don’t be surprised to see microcephaly reported in other parts of Brazil”, WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan told reporters in Rio de Janeiro during a WHO fact-finding mission.
