The Zika virus has hit the headlines all over the world as people fear it could be linked to microcephaly in babies, which causes them be born with abnormally small heads.
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Since Philpott said the infected people couldn’t possibly get the disease through local transmission, the question about sexual transmission was raised.
The Zika virus is spread through mosquito bites, and research shows that it is nearly always non-fatal.
“Currently no therapeutics exist to treat Zika virus nor is there a vaccine – but that gap need not be forever”, he said. The two confirmed cases in Costa Rica were contracted outside of the country.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has sent a delegation to Colombia’s Caribbean coast, one of the virus’ hotspots.
In other developments, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday moved to protect the U.S. blood supply by saying that people who’ve traveled to places where the Zika virus is prevalent, or who have symptoms that suggest infection, should wait a month before donating blood.
Brazil has seen a 20-fold increase in the number of babies born with microcephaly over the a year ago, when the country also saw a rise in the number of Zika virus infections, which has led researchers to speculate that the two are linked.
The guidance also recommends blood establishments update donor education materials with information about Zika virus signs and symptoms and ask potentially affected donors to refrain from giving blood.
Meantime, county officials are awaiting results of tests on two pregnant women who recently returned from a trip to areas where there have been outbreaks of the Zika virus.
Margaret Chan, the WHO Director-general said that the neurological complications have come to be recognized as a big trigger that converts mild threats into serious proportions in places where the Zika virus is prevalent. Sterile male mosquitoes were released in the Cayman Islands to fight dengue fever, to mate with wild Aedes aegypti female mosquitoes. The HPSC says further evidence is needed to confirm if sex is a way of spreading Zika.
In his memorandum, Hotchkiss told all the country’s airport authorities, airline companies and medical personnel to implement safety measures and prevent the spread of the virus suspected of causing birth defects such as microphaly among infants in South America particularly in Briazil.
Brazil usually reports about 150 cases of microcephaly annually.
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Although a student at Lehigh University, among others in Pennsylvania, have tested positive for the virus, it is not widespread in the state.
