There have been no reports of mosquitoes in the United States that carry the virus, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Pregnant women should postpone their travel, urged Dr. Karyl Rattay, director of the Delaware Division of Public Health. and if they do travel, take precautions to avoid mosquito bites and get screened by a doctor upon returning. Abnormalities of the eye were observed in 10 of the 29 infants (34.5 per cent) with microcephaly; of the 20 eyes in 10 children, 17 eyes (85 per cent) had ophthalmoscopic abnormalities. Officials are investigating whether there’s a link between Zika infections in pregnant women and a rare defect in which babies are born with abnormally small heads.
Confirmed cases of Zika virus have also been reported in Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee and Delaware. The Colombian Health Ministry began delivering mosquito nets for free to pregnant women after three deaths were reported in the country.
“Kenya is receiving Games preparation updates on regular basis including medical related issues Zika virus”. Frieden said that 80% of people who contract the virus will have no symptoms at all.
None of the cases in Australia of Zika, which normally causes relatively mild flu-like symptoms and a rash, were locally acquired.
The virus is primarily transmitted through mosquito bites, and health officials say there’s no indication that it can be spread through casual contact (though one US case was confirmed via sexual contact). That woman is not pregnant, a state official said. It said it had the technology to test for the virus, and would increase alerts to travellers.
“We will continue to provide updated Zika guidance to health care professionals across the commonwealth to ensure they are aware of the symptoms associated with the disease and the protocols that should be followed to ensure testing of potentially infected individuals, if needed”, said Culp.
The mosquito-borne disease linked to birth defects in babies is expected to affect up to 4million people, according to the World Health Organization. Typically there are only five to six cases of microcephaly for every 100,000 live births.
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“Australia has a tremendous health system and we’ve been very good at control of aedes aegypti in the past, even though numbers of dengue have been noticeable in the last few years”, he said. “As more babies are examined, we’ll have a better idea of the range of damage that occur to the retina”.
