The researchers expected Wolbachia to shorten mosquitoes’ lifespans, but the bacterium provided an added bonus, in that it heavily reduced the Dengue virus replication in the mosquito-also having a similar effect on Zika transmission. “We are paying attention to any cases that are reported to county public health”.
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Brazil’s outbreak of Zika – which has been linked to the devastating microcephaly birth defect in newborns in 1,271 cases since October – has also killed 57 of those babies, authorities said on Wednesday. What is most unsettling is that Zika has been blamed for birth defects in pregnant women. Margaret Honein, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, said during a press conference in Colombia that apart from microcephaly, babies whose mothers have had Zika during pregnancy may eventually acquire impaired hearing or vision.
Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes that carry Zika virus have been detected in Madera and Fresno counties, and there are 43 human cases in California, according to the state public health department.
His office hands out a Zika form that asks patients about recent travel and any symptoms they may have.
Concerns over the Zika virus are escalating. The common symptoms of the virus are fever, rash, joint pain and/or conjunctivitis (red eyes). “Like CMV, the Zika virus can be transmitted by other routes including sexual, so infection outside the mosquito range is expected to occur”.
We will continue spraying until the mosquito population has been eliminated by a strong freeze and until reports of mosquitoes have stopped.
As USA Today’s Liz Szabo recently reported, the Gulf Coast, including Alabama, is on the front line of the fight against Zika, the virus the Aedes aegypti mosquito species can transmit.
“We’re just trying to do whatever we can to be proactive and ahead of the game”, said Kidd.
“With mosquitoes, prevention is key”, said Morrison.
Fitzgerald says right now the biggest risk to pregnant women is travel-related.
People can take the following steps to prevent getting zika: wear long-sleeved shirts and long trousers, stay in places with air conditioning and window and door screens to keep mosquitoes outside, use Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered insect repellents with one of the following active ingredients: DEET, picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus, or para-menthane-diol. A much larger study is now being conducted but until the results are in, the best answer is, “We don’t know”, Fauci said. That means eliminate all sources of standing water, if you got a five gallon pale or an old paint can behind the tool shed dump those things out and get rid of them.
When Wolbachia infects, it co-opts the reproductive machinery of its hosts and frequently greedily guards them from different competing infections.
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Scientists advise against traveling to areas where the virus is most prevalent – such as Brazil, where millions are slated to travel this summer for the 2016 Olympics.
