The agency already temporarily prohibits donations from travellers who have returned from countries where malaria, which is also spread by mosquitoes, is endemic.
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The blood collection agency will decide in the next few days which travel destinations would be linked to the temporary ban.
Canada Blood Services announced on Thursday that it will stop accepting blood donations from people returning from countries hit by the outbreak.
Canadians are being advised to avoid travelling to countries affected by the virus, which is spread by a breed of mosquitoes not found in Canada, Philpott said.
They added that while those within the United States appear to have contracted the virus while they were traveling overseas, they believe that “more can and should be done to enhance preparedness and ascertain the nature of the threat Zika poses to our country”.
Devine says the organization is in the midst of deciding how long the deferral should be.
The virus is suspected of being linked to the birth of babies with abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains, a condition known as microcephaly, a link health experts are investigating.
Philpott says Canada will be attending the United Nations emergency meeting and the Public Health Agency is constantly monitoring the situation.
The senators noted in their letter to Frieden that they are hoping to “better understand” what the CDC is doing to “address the spread of the virus and to prepare our country… for any potential outbreak”.
Most people with Zika never know they’ve been infected because they experience no symptoms.
Earlier today The World Health Organization estimated there could be 3 to 4 million cases of Zika in the Americas over the next year.
Dr. Chan said Thursday it is concerned about the lack of immunity in the newly affected areas in the Americas, as well as the absence of a vaccine, any specific treatments, or any rapid diagnostic tests.
“The increased incidence of microcephaly is particularly alarming, as it places a heart-breaking burden on families and communities”. Officials said they are taking unspecified mosquito abatement measures. But he said a platform for a DNA-based vaccine, originally meant to target West Nile virus, might form the basis for a Zika vaccine.
Dr. Anthony Fauci says the Zika virus ” suspected of being connected to microcephaly ” hopefully can be kept at bay with “mosquito vector control”.
That process could be expedited the way it was for the Ebola virus, she said.
What’s known so far is very limited, Aylward said, and isn’t enough to prove that Zika is causing the birth defects.
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For now, San Diego County health officials are not testing for Zika.
