Florida health officials are investigating two more mysterious cases of Zika infection that do not appear to be related to travel, bringing the total to four.
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OneBlood, the blood bank supplying most of Florida’s largest hospitals, will begin using a new Zika investigational donor screening test on 100 percent of its donations beginning Friday, said spokeswoman Susan Forbes.
Blood collection centers across the country also shouldn’t accept any blood donations from people who have traveled to Miami-Dade and Broward counties within the past four weeks, the FDA added.
The CDC recently announced they would be donating $1.3 million to help Arkansas prepare for the Zika virus, Mirivel said. There have been 1,658 cases of Zika in the US and 4,750 cases in the USA territories as of July 27, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A 34-year-old man who likely has the Zika virus has traveled to an area with active Zika virus transmission, according to the Sacramento County Division of Public Health. Officials have not released the counties where those women live. Instances of sexual transmissions and maternal-fetal transmission of the virus have been reported, including in the United States.
When traveling to Zika infected areas, take precautionary steps to protect yourself by wearing long-sleeved shirts and long trousers; stay in places with air conditioning or have window and air screens, or sleep under a mosquito bed net.
This suggests the possibility that local transmission of the mosquito-borne virus that has been linked to severe birth defects has begun, officials said.
Two of the Zika cases are in Miami-Dade County and two are in Broward County.
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But unlike all of the other Zika cases reported in the U.S. at the time, she had no travel history to a country with Zika. As of yesterday, more than 1,400 cases of Zika had been reported in the US, but only 15 involved sexual transmission. Only one in five people with Zika develop symptoms, which include rash, fever, muscle aches and headaches, according to the CDC. The virus is spreading more broadly in North American territories. All these factors reduce the risk of Zika spread. The virus is typically transmitted through the bite of Aedes mosquitoes. For now, residents of the affected areas, particularly pregnant women, are advised to take precautions to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes.
