Following reports that local mosquito transmission of zika virus infection has been reported in Grenada, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday posted a zika virus travel notice for the island.
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The woman had sex with a partner who had picked up the disease while in Puerto Rico, the Robert Koch Institute reported on Friday. Officials have not released whether the woman miscarried or had an abortion.
Puerto Rico has had 925 cases of mosquito-borne Zika, including 128 pregnant women, but this is the only case so far linked to microcephaly.
“The March of Dimes and a coalition of dozens of prominent health-related organizations have called upon the U.S. Congress to provide emergency funding immediately to combat Zika virus”.
A 5-month-old with microcephaly undergoes a medical test at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, where more than 4,000 infants have been born with birth defects. Next week U.S. Senators will have the chance to vote for one of different proposed options that best fund the White House’s request for $1.9 billion. It also is suspected of causing a rare neurological disorder, Guillain-Barre syndrome, which can result in paralysis.
Dr. Brown says there are over 3,000 different types of mosquitoes and he says more mosquito based viruses are on the way.
Because the zika virus is primarily spread by mosquitoes, CDC recommends that travelers to Grenada protect themselves from mosquito bites.
Aedes mosquito also transmits dengue.
The White House said on Monday it was concerned the debt crisis confronting Puerto Rico could hamper its ability to deal with the potential public health crisis caused by the spread of the Zika virus, which has sickened almost people 700 on the island. Another woman treated at a hospital in the Washington area, who had visited several countries in Central America, terminated her pregnancy at 21 weeks after tests showed her fetus had severe brain damage.
“Just to give you an idea, this cap up in a water bottle is all that’s needed, if there’s water in it, for mosquitoes to proliferate”, Tomarken said. Meanwhile, scientists in the USA, who likened Zika outbreak to the Ebola crisis, said it could be years before a vaccine is publicly available.
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This is the second case of Zika virus in the state. CDC is working with Brazil to study the possibility of a link between zika and GBS.
