MI health officials said Wednesday that the state’s first case of Zika virus has been confirmed.
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The health department said of the 32 travel-related Zika cases in Florida, only three people still have symptoms, which usually last between seven and 10 days.
The virus was found in an Ingham County woman who contracted it while traveling to another country where Zika is more prevalent, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
All of the women tested positive for the virus after traveling to countries where cases of Zika have been confirmed.
Although Zika is not now being spread by mosquitoes in the continental United States, cases have been reported in returning travelers.
The virus is spread to people primarily through the bite of infected mosquitoes, and has been spreading through countries such as Brazil.
They’ll take blood samples from mothers and babies, including those who were born with microcephaly and those who were not, hoping to tease out what might be causing the defect.
Health officials will also be door-knocking the Rockhampton area on Thursday to speak with pregnant women.
Katherine E. Fleming-Dutra, MD, from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues updated interim guidelines for USA health care providers caring for infants with possible congenital Zika virus infection and for children with suspected infection. It also warned of a high risk of virus entering Vietnam as cases have been reported in neibouring Thailand and China. Symptoms include fever, rash, pink eye (conjunctivitis), and joint aches.
For four additional suspected sexual transmission events, preliminary laboratory evidence is available for the women, but confirmatory tests are pending, it said. The men, who are no longer sick, are now being tested for signs of the virus, too. All Zika testing is now done by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control because the state doesn’t yet have the ability, but Minicuci said should within the next few weeks. While it wasn’t the first time Zika has been passed along sexually in the USA, it was the first documented case during this current outbreak.
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“They discarded the fetal remains that were indispensable to diagnose or rule out Zika and the link with microcephaly and other abnormalities”. There is no cure or treatment for Zika infection.
