DOH Deputy Secretary Lynn Gallagher said, “We have been working closely with CDC to prepare for Zika cases in New Mexico”.
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A rare tropical disease has become epidemic in Latin America and the Caribbean.
So far, 258 cases of Zika have been reported in 34 states and the District of Columbia, the release said. But the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease for Control and Prevention have recently published recommendations to help prevent sexual transmission of the virus to pregnant women. 4 Infection in the U.S. is now linked to exposure of travelers who return from other countries.
A level 2 alert means visitors or tourists should practice enhanced precautions to avoid getting bitten by day-biting mosquitoes during their stay in countries with active local transmission of the virus.
Zika has spread widely through Latin America, passed on by the aedes aegypti mosquito. Lounibos also mentioned that the Zika-carrying mosquitoes are daytime mosquitoes, not evening feeders.
The U.S.is cautioning people, especially pregnant women, about traveling to about two dozen countries due to the virus, she said. The baby was born with microcephaly, a condition in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and incomplete brain development. One in five people infected will develop symptoms like a rash, fever, headache and red eyes.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, many who contract the virus, which is primarily transmitted by mosquitoes, don’t know they have symptoms. However, Brazil stated that it has confirmed more than 740 cases of microcephaly and considered majority are caused by Zika infection in the mothers. They sent the man’s blood to Colorado to be tested by the CDC.
Of the CDC-confirmed cases, most came as result of travel to Haiti (27 cases) El Salvador (16), Colombia (11), Honduras (11) and Guatemala (10).
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It is likely that infected women may also transmit the virus to men, but it has not yet been established. “So we must continue to ensure public safety and health, cleanliness of communities, and compliance with DOH guidance”, he added.
