MA health officials confirm the state has its first case of Zika virus.
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“Because there are so many unanswered questions about the risk of fetal malformation in pregnant women who develop a Zika virus infection, I think they’re the people who should be concerned and be prudent and probably shouldn’t travel in areas where Zika virus may be present at this point”, Madoff said. State health officials are actively working with local health departments to make sure providers have as much information as possible.
The World Health Organization warned Thursday the Zika virus is “spreading explosively ” and could infect four million people by the end of the year.
“If you’ve been thinking about traveling to warmer climates or have been catching a few news stories, you may have heard about something called the Zika virus – a disease spread primarily through mosquito bites”.
The Center for Disease Control is issuing a travel alert to areas where the Zika virus continues to spread. The organization is calling an emergency meeting on Monday to decide if they will declare a health emergency.
At her briefing Thursday at the WHO Executive Board meeting on Zika virus and steps that WHO is taking in response to the outbreak, Dr. Chan said Zika had gone from a mild threat to one of alarming proportions, and was having a heart-breaking impact. “Infectious disease experts at Duke Health are implementing strategies to identify sick travelers when they come to Duke clinics, or get admitted into our hospital, so they can be appropriately screened for the virus”, said Dr. Cameron Wolfe, Infectious Disease Specialist at Duke Health.
The agency said it could be many years before a vaccine is available and it might take six to nine months before there’s any data showing a causal relationship between Zika and the babies born with malformed heads. Chan says eliminating mosquito breeding grounds is one of the most important defenses against the disease.
The newspaper also mentioned a second case from 2008, in which a United States biologist was infected with Zika while in Senegal collecting mosquitoes for a malaria study.
– The WHO says that because no big Zika outbreaks were recorded before 2007, little is known about complications caused by infection.
Symptoms for the virus are similar to the flu – people can get a fever, red eyes, joint pain or a rash. Like those syndromes, Zika is mosquito-borne. A smaller than normal head due to the brain not developing properly.
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Sunwing Vacations says if provided with a doctor’s note it would consider accommodating customer requests for changes. Research by Brazilian authorities indicates the greatest risk of microcephaly appears to be associated with infection during the first trimester of pregnancy.
