Puerto Rico reported its first case of Zika-related microcephaly Friday in a tragic but not unexpected announcement for the island, which has been hit harder by the mosquito-borne virus than anywhere else in the U.S. The defect, which results in small heads and severe brain damage in infants, has been linked to the Zika virus in pregnant women.
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In a CDC statement today, Stephen Redd, MD, its director of preparedness and response, said the extra funding will help states and territories continue implementing their Zika preparedness plans but are only a temporary fix.
To date, there have been more than 500 cases of Zika in the continental USA, all of which so far have been associated with overseas travel.
Puerto Rico Health Secretary Dr Ana Rius said that a woman had given a foetus to hospital officials who discovered it had severe microcephaly.
“This is the first case of congenital and developmental Zika in the product of a pregnancy that are detected or reported in Puerto Rico”, says Dr. Brenda Rivera, the island’s chief epidemiologist.
The connection between Zika and microcephaly first came to light in fall 2015 in Brazil, which has now confirmed more than 1,100 cases of microcephaly that it considers to be related to Zika infections in the mothers.
“The Zika virus is a serious threat to public health in the United States”. One person in the USA with Zika developed Guillain-Barre syndrome, in which the body attacks the nervous system, causing paralysis. The biggest danger is to the babies of pregnant women.
KDHE has more information about Zika virus in general here.
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“I am very glad that Chairman Blunt and I have been able to work together on an emergency funding bill to quickly respond to the Zika threat”, Murray said in the release. At least 14 pregnant women infected with the virus gave birth to healthy infants. As The New York Times noted: “The content and tone of the World Health Organization’s guidance for athletes and travelers indicated that the health authority was not advocating the cancellation, postponement or relocation of the Olympics, as a few prominent medical ethicists have urged”. Public health officials have said men can also pass the virus along to their sexual partners and the virus survives longer in semen than it does in blood.
