Fearing an explosive outbreak of Zika cases in Puerto Rico as mosquito season approaches, top health officials are stepping up pressure on Congress to approve extra money for the fight against the virus.
Advertisement
Humbaugh said most Kentuckians are not at risk for Zika virus infection unless they’ve traveled recently to affected areas, including South America, the Caribbean and Central America.
The health department’s spokesman, Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy, said that the woman was apparently exhibiting the symptoms of Zika in the final days of her stay in the Philippines, but that she was not diagnosed with the virus until she returned to the U.S.
Pregnant women can be infected with Zika virus in any trimester and there have been increased cases of microcephaly possibly associated with Zika virus infections.
The CDC’s Fort Collins division, which studies vector-borne diseases, is now entirely focused on Zika, Frieden said, meaning that work on other pathogens has been put on the back burner. To help stop the spread of Zika, all travelers should use insect repellent for three weeks after travel to prevent mosquito bites. The most common symptoms include fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes. But there’s growing evidence linking it to a rare birth defect and to a nerve condition that causes temporary paralysis.
The ministry said the case involves a woman in her thirties who is believed to have been infected by the mosquito-borne virus during a two-week trip to Brazil ending late last month.
But officials said Thursday that it’s not known if Zika causes other birth defects besides microcephaly, or other neurological disorders.
Tidd also said that one woman service member who is pregnant was transferred out of the region as a precaution. The World Health Organization estimates there could be up to 4 million cases of Zika in the Americas in the next year.
But, for most other people the virus offers little threat – approximately 80 percent of people who become infected never experience symptoms.
Puerto Rico has about 160 confirmed Zika infections.
Advertisement
Without new funding, it’s hard to plan for mosquito control operations in Puerto Rico or to do surveillance needed to figure out where in the U.S. mosquitoes that can transmit Zika virus are found.
