These two recently-confirmed patients were reported in the counties of Jefferson and Shelby. Ohio Department of Health Medical Director Dr. Mary DiOrio said this test looks for pieces of the virus in patient’s blood.
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“I personally think that we aren’t going to have probably enough infected people and enough of the right mosquitoes to have a sustained epidemic, if you will. Will we have sporadic cases?” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued guidelines for anyone going to Zika-afflicted countries, and has advised pregnant women not to do so.
What is the Zika virus?
ADPH will update guidance as additional recommendations are developed.
It’s the first confirmed case of Zika virus disease in Kansas. Specimens tested by the laboratory will be forwarded to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for testing to confirm the laboratory’s results.
Thirty-one countries in the Americas have documented local cases of Zika, the mosquito-borne virus that has been linked to causing birth defects in babies of infected women.
The department says in a press release that anyone not already infected who lives or travels to an area where Zika virus is present can get it from bites of infected Aedes mosquitoes.
The department says genetic material of the Zika virus can be detected in blood collected within seven days of the onset of symptoms. It is much less prone to cause birth defects than other known viruses, such as rubella or herpes.
Last February 1, the World Health Organization (WHO) had declared Zika virus as a public health emergency of worldwide concern owing to its suspected links to microcephaly.
Karen Harris, a Gainesville-based physician and the chair of District XII of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, explained that there is a good chance the United States will fare better than other countries when it comes to the Zika problem.
Men who have traveled to Zika-affected areas and have pregnant partners should abstain from sex or consistently and correctly use condoms for the duration of the pregnancy for all forms of sexual activity.
Pregnant women are believed to have a high risk for complications in the development of their child during the active course of the infection.
Wear long-sleeved shirts and trousers with light coloring.
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Stay and sleep in screened-in or air-conditioned rooms.
