Only about one in five people with Zika develop symptoms, so most of those with the virus are unaware they’ve been infected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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There have been no cases of transmission from mosquitoes in the continental United States although 426 have people have contracted it while traveling out of the country. including eight people who contracted it through sexual contact, CDC reports.
The patient was identified as a 70-year-old man who died at the end of February, according to the Puerto Rican daily El Nuevo Dia, which quoted the island’s health secretary, Ana Rius.
The man, in his 70s, died from internal bleeding caused by a rare immune reaction to the virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
The CDC also reported that there were 683 laboratory-confirmed current or recent Zika cases in Puerto Rico, where it said the mosquito-borne virus posed “a public health challenge”.
It poses the most significant threat to pregnant women because it has been linked to a birth defect known as microcephaly, a condition where a baby’s head is much smaller than expected.
Zika-related deaths in adults are considered extremely rare.
Symptoms of Zika generally are mild, and include fever, rash and joint pain. While the virus doesn’t often require an infected person be hospitalized, it can be risky during pregnancy.
The CDC has warned of a potential explosion of Zika cases in Puerto Rico, possibly reaching into the hundreds of thousands.
Zika is spread by mosquitoes, but there hasn’t been a single case of a mosquito spreading the virus in the U.S. Any pregnant woman planning to travel to areas where the virus has spread should either cancel plans or take precautions to avoid being bitten by the aggressive mosquito that spreads the virus. The spokesman said researchers do not yet know whether there are risk factors associated with ITP in people infected with Zika.
The first commercially available Zika virus test was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on April 29 for emergency use, according to Quest Diagnostics, who developed the test.
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Cases of Zika have greatly increased throughout the Americas over the past year. “My thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of Zika’s first victim in Puerto Rico”. The state’s health department suggests pregnant women delay travel to countries where Zika is prevalent.
