The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about the Zika virus.
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Tim O’Connor, spokesman for the Health Department in Palm Beach County, said Florida has some protection from viruses such as Zika because of the state’s robust mosquito-control programs. The CDC has also advised any pregnant women who have traveled to countries with the Zika virus to get tested for the virus if they are have two or more symptoms of the virus.
The mosquito that carries the Zika virus resides in warm climates in Latin America and the Caribbean but they still pose a threat to those living in the U.S. The virus is spread by mosquito bites.
Doctors now believe Zika virus contributes to microcephaly – where a child is born with an unusually small head and stunted brain development.
Rathore says about one out of every five people who has the virus experiences the symptoms. On Jan. 15, the CDC issued Zika-related travel warnings for United States residents going to Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.
He said the precautions needed to be taken were the same as for dengue, including avoiding being bitten by the mosquito by wearing long-sleeved shirts and staying away from outdoor activities a few hours before dusk and after dawn. There is no vaccine to prevent either zika or chikungunya, though Brazil has dedicated funds to speeding up research to develop a zika vaccine.
“It’s a huge issue if you get a large number of pregnant women infected with this virus”, says Dr. Mobeen Rathore, professor of pediatric infectious diseases at UF Health Jacksonville. Cases of microcephaly multiplied 10-fold in Brazil in 2o15, which health experts attribute to the surge in Zika infections. “The mother likely had Zika infection when she was residing in Brazil in May 2015 and her newborn acquired the infection in the womb. Testing for Zika virus infection is performed at CDC and several state health departments”, the guidelines said. The kind of mosquitoes that can carry the virus are found in the southwestern United States.
“There’s no indication at this point that there’s any Zika virus circulating in Hawaii”.
At least 20 Latin American countries have reported cases of the Zika virus, the Associated Press reported.
Although the virus is normally spread by mosquitoes, there has been one report of possible spread through blood transfusion and one of possible spread through sex.
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The alert recommends that women who are pregnant postpone travel to those areas, and that women wanting to become pregnant consult their doctors before setting out on any trip to those areas.
