More than 1,000 pregnant women in Puerto Rico have been infected with the mosquito-borne virus, which can cause microcephaly, a condition marked by abnormally small head size and developmental problems in babies.
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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. So far, Florida officials have identified 58 pregnant women with the Zika virus.
Money for the Zika vaccine research was to run out at the end of the month, USA Today reported.
CHICAGO Aug 11 The U.S. government has shifted $34 million in funding to the National Institutes of Health and $47 million to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to work on Zika vaccines.
HHS made the declaration at the request of Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro García Padilla.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) – The U.S. government on Friday declared a public health emergency in Puerto Rico as a result of a Zika epidemic. Investigators and mosquito control inspectors will be working in that area, but no other details about the location or the patient were released.
It also allows Puerto Rico to temporarily reassign public health workers to assist in the Zika response.
Burwell said the funding was meant to keep Zika vaccine research going despite the lack of funding from US lawmakers, who left for summer recess before allocating any funding to Zika research and preparedness.
Miami-Dade County’s fight against the spread of the Zika virus is costing the county more than expected – prompting the mayor to reach out to those in Tallahassee. The administration said on Thursday it had shifted $81 million in funds from other projects to continue work on developing vaccines to fight Zika in the absence of any funding from US lawmakers.
There is now no vaccine or cure for Zika, which has spread to more than 50 countries and territories since the outbreak began a year ago in Brazil.
WHO: An expert panel will include: Dr. Kyle Gardner, chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Sarasota Memorial Hospital; Michael Drennon, epidemiologist at the Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County; Matthew Smith, director of Sarasota County Mosquito Management; and Dr. Vilma Vega, an infectious disease specialist.
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“Zika poses a hidden threat to future generations of Puerto Ricans and I feel the responsibility to do everything in my power to fight the spread of it”, he said.
