“In one identified Zika virus-associated case, the patient died of complications related to severe thrombocytopenia”, a blood disorder that can cause severe bleeding in some patients, the CDC wrote in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Advertisement
French Polynesia also reported four cases during its outbreak of Zika from 2013 to 2014.
The Centers for Disease Control says one person who was infected with the Zika virus has died in Puerto Rico. Officials said the man ultimately died from internal bleeding resulting from the complication, known as immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP).
HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell said, “In Puerto Rico, and around the world, the Zika virus is a serious and challenging health threat”. North Dakota has reported a Zika case of a pregnant woman who apparently picked up the virus in Puerto Rico. Quest plans to make the tool available to doctors for patient testing in locations in the US and Puerto Rico early next week, the company said in a statement.
The virus is known to cause the brain defect microcephaly, and is blamed for a recent surge in cases of malformed babies in Brazil.
With the latest case in New Brunswick, there have now been 60 laboratory-confirmed reports of the Zika virus in Canada.
Symptoms of Zika are normally mild and don’t last longer than a week.
United States authorities have issued travel notices due to Zika for 43 countries and territories, mainly in the Caribbean, central and south America.
The U.S. territory is battling more than 700 Zika cases and seeks federal funds to help prevent an epidemic at a time of worsening economic crisis. Five had Guillan-Barre, a paralyzing syndrome that can follow many different infections and that’s now being noted as Zika infects hundreds of thousands of people in the Americas.
The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain, or conjunctivitis (red eyes). That means people who receive negative results may not necessarily be out of the woods, and further testing could be required if symptoms persist. While the virus doesn’t often require an infected person be hospitalized, it can be unsafe during pregnancy. Blood tests found that 683 had current or past Zika infections, including 65 pregnant women.
The symptoms of Zika are similar to those of dengue and chikungunya, diseases spread through the same mosquitoes that transmit Zika.
Advertisement
Orange County has reported infestations of the tropical mosquitoes, but health officials have warned a Zika outbreak here is unlikely.
