“If you recently traveled to an area where Zika virus transmission is occurring, and are pregnant or experiencing illness and have questions about getting tested for Zika virus, talk with your healthcare provider and be sure to tell them where you traveled”, according to the district.
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The first case of Zika virus has been reported in Monroe County, but officials say MI residents are at low risk for the viral infection.
The declaration allows Puerto Rico to apply for funding to hire unemployed workers to help with mosquito control, outreach and education through the Department of Labor’s National Dislocated Worker Grant program.
US Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell said in a statement: “This [Obama] administration is committed to meeting the Zika outbreak in Puerto Rico with the necessary urgency”.
A World Health Organization report released on Thursday also mentions Canada as the latest country to report a case of congenital malformation associated with a Zika infection.
Also on Friday, Florida said three more people had become infected with Zika by local mosquitoes, bringing the total to 28.
Current guidelines recommend infected patients should use condoms or abstain from sex for at least six months after the onset of symptoms.
The virus causes mild, flu-like symptoms in most people, but can cause severe brain-related birth defects, if women are infected during pregnancy.
Meanwhile, the US Government has declared a Zika virus emergency.
Of that money, $19 million is expected to be used for mosquito control, according to data from the Florida Department of Health.
The virus can cause microcephaly, a birth defect marked by abnormally small head size and developmental problems in babies.
Zika virus is primarily transmitted through a mosquito bite, and there is no indication that it can spread from person to person through casual contact. The spraying was launched last week after health officials identified cases of locally transmitted Zika.
The health department said the third infection is outside that zone in Miami-Dade County. “I’ve allocated state resources, $26.2 million”.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned in June that Puerto Rico could see dozens, if not hundreds, of babies with microcephaly in the coming months. Since the transmitting mosquito is a dawn to dusk biter, we have been searching house to house the areas where the cases live and visited on Maui.
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“People have to understand the seriousness of this issue”, Garcia said.
