In 2015, Hawaii saw four cases of Zika virus in the state. All three victims were bitten by infected mosquitoes. Other uncertainties surround the incubation period of the virus and how Zika interacts with other viruses that are transmitted by mosquitoes, such as dengue.
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Researchers said lower-income areas are prone to a higher risk of infectious diseases. There is no vaccine nor antiviral medications to prevent infection.
The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis.
“We know that 80 per cent of these cases don’t even have any symptoms”.
It raises fears that the birth-defect causing virus could spread throughout the country, just months after it recovered from an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers).
By next year, Frieden said, there could be hundreds of thousands of cases of Zika in the territory, and “thousands of infected pregnant women”. She is not pregnant.
Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan, said that in less than a year, the status of Zika has changed from “a mild medical curiosity” to a disease with severe public health implications. They were treated for symptoms within a week and were not hospitalized.
In the current outbreak, Brazil and Panama have reported microcephaly, a rare neurological condition in which an infant’s head is significantly smaller than normal.
Rogers said he hopes the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides more funding to Kansas so he can place mosquito traps that specifically target the species that can carry Zika.
Pregnant women are the most vulnerable group of the virus infection. Experts say people traveling there for vacation should be aware of the virus.
Upon confirming the first case of Zika, the KCDC strongly advised that pregnant women and those considering becoming pregnant consider postponing travel to countries where Zika is circulating, including Mexico, Thailand and Brazil.
– If you have a male partner who lives in or has traveled to an area with Zika, either use condoms, the right way, every time you have sex or do not have sex during your pregnancy. Mahmudur Rahman, director of the ministry’s Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research, said the man had never travelled outside Bangladesh. It took four weeks for the state lab to train staff, get supplies and form protocol in order to perform Zika tests. The test result would come out later in the day.
“A shift in our thinking is needed”, she said.
Meanwhile, the virus continues to spread in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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“We have been actively taking steps for months to prepare for a positive case, including expedited testing and a coordinated response across agencies”, Gov. Dannel Malloy said in the release. Wear long trousers and long sleeves when outside and use mosquito repellent with DEET.
