While there is no specific treatment for the Zika virus disease, the best recommendations are supportive care, rest, fluids and fever relief.
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“There are no cases in the United States of the Zika virus itself”, said Cavin Richardson, a registered nurse with the Harrison-Clarksburg Health Department. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), announced this week that Zika is the definitive cause of birth defects seen in Brazil and other countries affected by the outbreak.
Some travelers to areas with zika will become infected while traveling but will not become sick until they return home and they might not have any symptoms.
The Zika virus can be spread through a certain species of mosquito, sexual contact or even blood transfusion.
Though there’s no vaccination or cure for the Zika virus, medication can be used to treat its symptoms.
Mosquito-borne Zika is present in 130 countries and recent studies have shown it can also be transmitted sexually between human carriers.
Mosquitoes can spread the virus from one person to another. The agency advises women who are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant to not travel to Zika-affected areas. It also urges employers to consider providing workers with hats with mosquito netting to protect the face and neck. Still, it should be noted that as many as 80 percent of people infected with the contagious virus never develop symptoms at all.
At present, there is no vaccine for Zika virus.
Each year, during rainy seasons, outbreaks of mosquito-transmitted viruses like dengue and chikungunya get a spike in numbers.
However, Sridhar warned there would be more United Kingdom cases of Zika than of Ebola, which saw Scottish nurse Pauline Cafferkey treated in hospitals in Glasgow and London after contracting the virus in Sierra Leone.
All travelers are encouraged to take precautions against mosquito bites, Aragon said. The CDC last week confirmed a direct link between Zika and a serious birth defect called microcephaly, which causes babies to be born with small heads.
The Maryland Department of Agriculture put out a list of things Marylanders can do to avoid mosquito bites, including wearing long clothing, properly applying insect repellent and staying away from mosquito-infested areas, especially early and late in the day and at night in well-lit areas.
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“We believe the games will be played as scheduled, and we are having ongoing conversations with the CDC to alleviate the players’ concerns”, Major League Baseball said in a statement.
