Health officials in the USA have discovered four cases of the Zika virus, which may have been contracted from mosquitoes inside America.
Advertisement
Countries/territories/areas with active or past Zika transmission have been classified into 4 categories based on the current and potential epidemiological situation.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has predicted that one in four people on the island could be infected with Zika by the end of this year and has been working with the Puerto Rican government to try to slow its spread and protect pregnant women.
The NHS reports the Zika virus disease is mainly spread by mosquitoes and for most people it is a very mild infection and isn’t harmful. British health officials have urged pregnant women to consider postponing non-essential travel to Florida after the southern USA state confirmed the first cases of the Zika virus that were not linked to travel. “At present, only a zone of about 1 square mile in Miami-Dade County is considered at risk of active transmission”.
Some experts fear Zika will now spread across the USA but officials in Miami said they believed the cases were confined to an area north of the city.
None of the four patients in Miami had travelled to Zika-affected areas in Latin America or the Caribbean.
Governor Rick Scott told a news conference Friday, “Florida has become the first state in our country to have a local transmission of the Zika virus”.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says there are 1,200 more cases of Zika confirmed in the U.S. and its territories this week than there were last week.
“All the evidence we have seen indicates that this is mosquito-borne transmission that occurred several weeks ago in several blocks in Miami”, said Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H., director of the U.S. Center for Disease Control.
Zika has been linked to microcephaly which stunts the growth of a baby’s head.
Public-health officials have anxious for months that the virus, which is particularly unsafe to pregnant women and can cause severe birth defects, would become mosquito-borne in Florida.
“We anticipate that there may be additional cases of homegrown Zika in the coming weeks”.
The state hasn’t yet found Aedes species mosquitoes carrying the virus, but is actively testing in the area, Scott said. But since there is no cure for Zika or the serious birth defects it causes, precautions like the use of bug repellent is recommended, especially for women who are planning to have a child.
– Work with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to issue a Mosquito Declaration and ensure that Mosquito Control in the areas of concern have the resources they need to combat further local transmission.
Advertisement
Chat live or send an email through the MotherToBaby website.
