No mosquito found in the neighbourhood has tested positive for the virus, but this species has a short life span. Health officials said the Florida mosquitoes carrying the virus had probably acquired it by biting an infected traveller from Latin America or the Caribbean. “He doesn’t feel anything”, she said.
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“We are doing enhanced surveillance for those particular mosquitoes that are capable of transmitting Zika”, said Dr. Jennifer Brown, from the Indiana State Department of Health.
“We’ve had no cancellations because of (Zika)”, McCabe said. An emergency response team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will help Florida authorities investigate the outbreak, collect samples and control mosquitoes. “Today, the news is Zika”, he said.
The CDC has issued its first-ever travel advisory in the U.S. Pregnant women or those who might become pregnant should not travel to a small area near Miami where Zika has spread.
That individual – the eighth to be diagnosed with Zika in the state – had not traveled to a Zika-infected area or had sex with anyone who had traveled to such an area or was infected.
Zika is a virus primarily spread by the Aedes genus of mosquito, which usually bites during the day. “We looked up our government health advice and they said pregnant women should be wary, but other than that, just normal precautions”.
The CDC funds will let California researchers pay more attention to babies with microcephaly born in the state.
Zika causes microcephaly- a serious birth defect that shrinks newborns heads to abnormal levels.
More than 1,600 people in this country have been infected with Zika in recent months – almost all while traveling overseas.
Jake Barreth returned home Friday from Haiti where Zika has been present for at least 18 months.
The state is distributing free larvicide, as well as kits for pregnant women that include repellent, condoms and information about the virus.
Nothing has worked to stop this mosquito elsewhere in the world except for the introduction of mosquitoes modified to pass on genes that kill their offspring, said Michael Doyle, executive director of the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District. He said it was based on the nation’s ability to contain previous outbreaks of other diseases carried by the same mosquito. These infections are thought to have occurred because the patients’ partners had traveled to countries where Zika is circulating, the CDC said.
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The CDC grant will let the California Department of Public Health spend more time and resources tracking those women during pregnancy and after delivery.
