Editors Note: The number of confirmed Zika cases in the USA now stands at 66, including the one in Yolo County.
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Concern about the virus was elevated following reports of increased cases of a serious birth defect known as microcephaly that may be associated with Zika virus infection among pregnant women.
There is a greater risk of birth defects for the children of pregnant mothers infected with the Zika virus, but the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is gaining knowledge on the overall impact of the virus on pregnant women. Fortunately, the best vector is Aedes aegypti, which is found in the most southern areas of the US, which does not include North Carolina.
Meanwhile, medical respondents have been ordered to be keen in assessing symptoms of the virus and to inquire about the travel history of suspected patients.
In order to protect her privacy, officials would not confirm her age, county of residence, or even when she was traveling; however, they say she tested positive last week after experiencing mild symptoms and has since recovered.
Castro said doctors had been perplexed by the death, which occurred before the Zika outbreak had been discovered and was originally classified as a result of pneumonia.
So far, there have been only a couple of Zika cases in Virginia.
Gisele Felix, who is five months pregnant, applies repellent on her arm at her home in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, January 28, 2016. The World Health Organization declared an worldwide emergency. An initial delegation of 15 researchers from the CDC was slated to arrive in Brazil on Friday, he added.
Recently, however, officials with the Dallas County (Texas) Health and Human Services Department announced it had confirmation of a case of the Zika virus acquired through sexual transmission. Zika is spread through mosquito bites, not casual person-to-person contact. The biggest US message is for pregnant women to avoid traveling to Zika-affected areas.
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The Obama administration has no immediate need for funding to combat the Zika virus because money remains unspent from fighting the two-year-long Ebola outbreak, a member of the Republican Senate leadership said on Tuesday. It moved quickly through Latin America before showing up in the United States, most often in people who have traveled. Officials don’t expect large outbreaks in the continental US, but have warned that there could be limited local transmission, small clusters, in those areas, like there have been of related viruses carried by the same mosquito, the dengue and chikungunya viruses.
