“A number of travellers infected with Zika have entered Europe, but the disease has not been transmitted further, as the mosquito is still inactive”.
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The first known case of Zika virus transmission in the USA was reported in Dallas, Texas, on Tuesday by local health officials, who said it was likely to have been contracted through sex and not a mosquito bite. It does not cause serious complications in adults, but it can lead to severe brain defects in newborns. With the onset of spring and summer, the risk that Zika virus will spread increases.
Officials are scrambling to measure the severity of an outbreak that began in northeast Brazil early a year ago, before spreading across the country and into the rest of the Americas, a region that had never before suffered from Zika infections.
Health officials said none of the cases originated in Florida. “We know that we must be prepared for the worst even as we hope for the best”.
The emergency order authorizes the state’s agriculture department to take action to combat the problem, such as spraying against mosquitoes in the areas.
Florida is the third most populous state in the country.
The current Zika epidemic is on track to cause millions of infections in Latin America and the Caribbean, but no transmission was reported in the United States until the Dallas case this week.
While public health experts said it’s very unlikely the Zika virus will establish itself in Los Angeles County, they want everyone to do what they can to reduce the mosquito population.
Bharat Biotech, an Indian drug company, said that it was already developing the world’s first Zika vaccine which is now ready to be tested on animals.
Only about 1 in 5 people infected with Zika virus show symptoms of illness. Symptoms, usually mild, include fever, rash, joint pain or conjunctivitis or “pink eye”.
Some pregnant women with Zika gave birth to babies with birth defects.
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Moises Castillo/AP A blood samples from pregnant women wait to be analyzed for the presence of the Zika virus, at Guatemalan Social Security maternity hospital in Guatemala City.
