Health care providers are also urged to counsel patients who are planning to travel to endemic areas about the prevention of mosquito bites and seek Zika virus testing for patients with Zika virus symptoms who have recently traveled to areas with Zika infection.
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The battle lines against the Zika virus are being drawn in South America, with help of top Bay Area researchers.
Cases of microcephaly in babies born to women infected during pregnancy have been reported by French Polynesia, Brazil, and, just last week, Colombia.
According to the New Jersey Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is in the process of determining how effective New Jersey’s mosquitoes would be at transferring Zika from one human to another.
Aside from mosquitoes, Zika can be spread through sexual contact in some cases, the CDC notes.
Pregnant women should be advised not travel to areas with ongoing Zika virus outbreaks, the World Health Organization says.
“Not all mosquitoes are the same”, said Dr. Christopher Barker, a UC Davis epidemiologist studying mosquito-borne viruses. Outbreaks are occurring in many countries, including Mexico, and the public should refer to the CDC’s current list of travel advisories at http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/ before traveling outside the United States.
After a meeting of its emergency committee on Tuesday, Margaret Chan, WHO director-general, said “reports and investigations in several countries strongly suggest that sexual transmission of the virus is more common than previously assumed ” “. Taylor also said, though, that because Canada doesn’t have the mosquitoes that transmit the virus the risk remains “very, very low” for Canadians. So they say use condoms to prevent transmission but how long you need to do this after contracting the Zika virus isn’t known. In pregnant women can lead to birth defects.
“Microcephaly is now only one of several documented birth abnormalities associated with Zika infection during pregnancy”, she said, adding that it can cause growth problems, injuries to the central nervous system and fetal death.
There is no vaccination that can cure the Zika virus and Zika virus can most often be spread during the daytime.
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If you experience symptoms such as rash, joint pain, fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, eye pain, conjunctivitis, muscle weakness, limb numbness immediately go see a physician for proper assessments. Based on what we know today, traveling to or living in areas without Zika transmission does not pose a risk of getting infected with Zika.
