She warned that the number of cases of babies born with microcephaly in other countries is also expected to rise, as it is happening in Brazil, but she said that the link between the virus and the defect is not yet scientifically proven. Children with this birth defect have underdeveloped heads and brains.
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Brazil’s health minister, Marcelo Castro, recently announced that the country has signed an agreement with a Texas research hospital for the joint development of a vaccine against the Zika virus. A news release says all three cases are believed to be travel-related. The antibody tests let doctors determine whether an individual, especially pregnant women and new mothers, ever had the virus, even if they are not now sick.
“Several countries in the Caribbean, Central and South America are experiencing outbreaks and Mainers like to travel to warm places in the winter”. The virus is under intense study regarding suspected link to birth defects such as microcephaly.
February 2: First case of Zika transmission in United States; local health officials say likely contracted through sex, not mosquito bite.
Researchers have confirmed more than 460 of the cases in Brazil as microcephaly and identified evidence of Zika infection in 41 of these cases, but have not proven that Zika can cause the condition.
A woman in Brazil who became infected with the Zika virus gave birth to a stillborn baby, and large parts of the infant’s brain were missing, according to a new report.
At least one person in Saskatchewan has Zika virus.
Joined by 105 of her Democratic colleagues, Clark’s letter to Republican leadership urged that any “response to the Zika virus must include a robust and focused effort on expanding access to women’s health care services”. He said much is still unknown about how strong the association is between the virus and microcephaly, and the likelihood of getting microcephaly if infected with the Zika virus. The virus is mainly transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, the same mosquitoes that spread dengue, although spread of the virus through blood transfusion and sexual contact has already been reported.
Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday requested the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to send 250 additional Zika antibody tests to the state.
This digitally-colorized image shows particles of Zika virus, which is a member of the family Flaviviridae.
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In some areas impacted by the Zika virus, women are being told to delay pregnancies.
