Eyewitness News spoke to medical professionals in Rhode Island Friday, as the first case of Zika was confirmed in MA this week.
Advertisement
Laboratory testing for Zika virus infection is available at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The virus is now beginning to have an impact here in Wisconsin. Pregnant women who have traveled to these areas should consult their physician immediately.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Zika virus outbreak is likely to spread throughout almost all the Americas. The effort against the disease focuses on protecting people from mosquitoes and reducing mosquito populations.
Zika virus infection in this individual serves as a reminder that people in Virginia can acquire the disease during travel to countries where Zika virus transmission is occurring, the department said.
The Zika virus is spread by mosquito bites, and symptoms are usually mild and include fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes. Health authorities have issued a national alert against the Aedes aegypti mosquito, vector of the Zika virus which might cause microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome.
“We do have a handful of cases that are being tested that might have been cases imported from travel overseas”, said Savannah District Health Director, Dr. Weems.
El Salvador has urged women in the Central American nation to delay getting pregnant until 2018, as the Zika virus rages on. Gorski says take this advice seriously.
“We’ve only had two cancellations out of the thousands of bookings that we have”, says Ed Mani, the President of Burkhalter Travel.
Official figures show 96 pregnant women are suspected of having contracted the virus, but so far none have had babies born with microcephaly.
Advertisement
An employee conducts fumigation to prevent the Zika virus, in the Carabayllo District, in the Lima Province, Peru, on January 29, 2016. For most people, Zika is little more than an annoyance.
