Puerto Rico has reported almost 2,000 new Zika virus cases in the past week, causing the Obama administration to declare a public health emergency in the United States territory.
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The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said Aedes mosquitoes are found in all countries in the Americas except Canada and continental Chile, and the virus will likely reach all countries and territories of the region where Aedes mosquitoes are found.
President Barack Obama’s administration declared a public health emergency in Puerto Rico on Friday in response to the growing number of Zika virus cases that pose a “significant threat to public health”, especially to pregnant women and women of childbearing age.
An Italian man carried Zika in his sperm for six months after showing the first symptoms of the virus, twice as long as in any previously reported case, according to a new study.
At its merciless rate of increasing infection, Dr. Murthy warns that an estimated twenty-five percent of the island will have fallen victim to this dread virus, borne by mosquitos. So health officials are reminding the public it’s wise to take precautions both to prevent Zika and limit your exposure to the virus. That includes 57 cases involving pregnant women. Like local officials, Murthy stressed that Puerto Ricans need to take the virus seriously, even though the extent of the infection is masked because eight out of 10 show no symptoms.
55 pregnant women in Florida tested positive for Zika.
“This administration is committed to meeting the Zika outbreak in Puerto Rico with the necessary urgency”, Burwell said in a statement.
A Sarasota County resident contracted the Zika virus while traveling, marking the first local case of the infection, the Florida Department of Health announced today.
This is the second confirmed case of maternal-to-fetal transmission of the virus in Canada.
Mr Garcia recently authorized the use of Bti, an organic larvicide, to fight the spread of Zika after rejecting aerial spraying with the insecticide naled as proposed by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Some babies with no immediate signs of problems have also been born in the U.S.to Zika-infected mothers.
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It did not disclose the location of the new case and stressed that one case does not mean active transmission. Other uncertainties surround the incubation period of the virus and how Zika interacts with other viruses that are transmitted by mosquitoes, such as dengue.
