“The main culprit in transmitting the Zika virus is a mosquito known as Aedes”, said Coppinger.
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U.S. Olympic Committee officials told ABC News that the committee can not force athletes to go to the games and that it is not a health agency, so it is focusing on alerting athletes to travel advisories from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS is also found in saliva, but saliva has not been shown to transmit the virus. “So everything that we’ve seen about not just Zika, but dengue and chikungunya suggests that this is the overwhelming cause of transmission”. He said these precautions are no different from the time when the West Nile Virus threatened the county. Help reduce the number of mosquitoes around your home by emptying standing water from flowerpots, gutters, buckets, pool covers, pet water dishes, discarded tires and birdbaths on a regular basis. “Right now, we don’t have any mosquito activity in the area, but it won’t be long”.
Fauci said that he didn’t feel this illness needed the appointment of a Zika Czar, “but if the situation evolves that it would require that, I’m sure that the President would be very open to making that decision”.
The World Health Organisation declared the outbreak an worldwide health emergency on February 1, citing a “strongly suspected” relationship of Zika infection in pregnancy to microcephaly. Recent news reports said it is spreading fast and India is not free from its risk. “What we can do, and the CDC can do, is give them the facts”.
The virus has spread through Latin America since May of 2015 largely by mosquitoes.
“It’s basically mosquito control”, she said.
“With any kids make sure when you put insect repellent on, you spray it on your hands and rub it on the child”. As the CDC did last week, they also called on men to use condoms with pregnant partners if they have visited countries where the virus is present. “A lot of people who get it don’t even know they have it”, said in an interview with CBS News.
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While the Zika epidemic first surfaced in Brazil last spring, Zika virus has since spread to 30 countries and territories in South and Central America and the Caribbean. Mild illness, fever and red eyes are few symptoms of Zika infection. There is no cure for the virus. In addition to creating conditions where viruses can thrive, extreme weather can hobble already over-taxed public health systems.
