The WA Health Department has joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in warning pregnant women or those planning children of the possibility of an outbreak of the mosquito-borne virus. No one has contracted Zika from bites in the USA, but officials are concerned that mosquitoes here will bite an infected patient and then start a local outbreak.
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“Here in Chester County, mosquito prevention starts with each and every one of us”, Casner said. “Condoms can protect a pregnant woman from getting Zika from sex”. However, CDC scientists have now formally announced that based on overwhelming evidence, Zika virus infection during pregnancy is a cause of microcephaly and other severe fetal brain defects including eye defects, hearing loss, and impaired growth in infants. The state has the highest number of Zika cases, accounting for 19 percent of the 755 nationwide as of Monday. The chance the virus will appear in these places, such as the Pacific Northeast, Upper Midwest and New England, is extremely low. One was transmitted in a lab, 11 were sexually transmitted, and the rest were acquired overseas.
Fears about the spread of the virus have also been cause for concern ahead of the Summer Olympics in Brazil this August.
Symptoms include fever, headache and rash, while infected people usually feel bad for about a week, according to Taylor.
“West Nile virus seems to be here to stay, so the best way to avoid the disease is to prevent mosquito bites and eliminate breeding grounds for mosquitoes”, says Janel Heinrich, Director of PHMDC.
Zika-contaminated blood donations are removed from the blood supply in Puerto Rico thanks to an experimental test, but most blood banks in the continental USA have not begun using the screening procedure.
So far, .7 million has been raised, which was enough to train only two dozen doctors and provide free services to 700 women.
Researchers are also following apparently healthy babies born to women infected during pregnancy to see if developmental problems crop up later in childhood.
While the mosquitoes that carry the virus have not been detected in Stanislaus County, health officials said all residents should take steps to prevent mosquito bites.
The woman, who is not pregnant, is the 23rd case of travel-associated Zika virus in Pennsylvania. The CDC says it will need another $20 million to train more doctors and cover the costs of birth control.
“It’s possible that thousands of pregnant women in Puerto Rico could be infected”, Frieden said.
US health officials expect local outbreaks, especially along the Gulf Coast, as mosquito season ramps up in the coming weeks.
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The virus is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is typically found in the South and Southwest – though it can also be spread through sexual contact.
