Mosquitoes have apparently begun spreading the Zika virus on the USA mainland for the first time, health officials said Friday in a long-feared turn in the epidemic sweeping through Latin America and the Caribbean.
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Pregnant women are being advised to postpone non-essential trips to Florida because of the Zika virus.
State officials have responded rapidly with mosquito control measures and a community-wide search for additional Zika cases.
As of July 27, the CDC says there are 1,658 reported cases of the mosquito-borne virus in the country, nearly all linked to travel to countries with transmission within their borders.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the first four documented cases of locally transmitted Zika virus occurred within the continental United States. The Zika virus strain circulating in the current outbreak affecting Central and South America and the Caribbean is of the Asian lineage.
The virus has triggered alarm across the Western Hemisphere’s warmer latitudes.
Zika appears to pose the greatest risk when it infects pregnant women, given its ability to cause microcephaly in babies, a condition defined by small head size that can lead to developmental problems. Officials say those four are apparently the first of over 1,650 U.S. Zika cases to have gotten the disease from a mosquito in the U.S.
Following the news, the United Kingdom issued a travel warning, urging pregnant citizens to postpone their travel to Florida.
“We have been working with state and local governments to prepare for the likelihood of local mosquito-borne Zika virus transmission in the continental United States and Hawaii”, said Lyle Petersen, M.D., M.P.H., incident manager for CDC’s Zika virus response.
Meanwhile, Florida has announced more aggressive mosquito-control efforts and politicians are keen to assure tourists the state is safe to visit. Florida health officials said t.
One case of the mosquito-borne Zika virus has been confirmed in Athens County, as well as neighboring Hocking County.
Scientists may have found A. aegypti mosquitoes in parts of these states, but there are far fewer of the mosquitoes there. The virus is typically transmitted through the bite of Aedes mosquitoes.
In addition to mosquitoes, the Zika virus can be transmitted through sex.
Fourteen nations have reported microcephaly instances, and the first baby born with the state was reported in Spain this week.
Vanessa Gomez, 33, left, with her son Ezra, 2, and her friend Cristy Fernandez, 33, with her 9-month-old- son River, of Miami, walk in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami, Friday, July 29, 2016.
Health Protection Scotland provides similar advice on its website, although the section on the Zika virus is yet to include information about the situation in Florida.
Scott has allocated over $25 million for dealing with Zika, and the White House and the CDC have provided over $10 million.
Jenny Gray, who is 27 and works in Wynwood for an art designer, said she will follow the experts’ advice to wear insect repellent.
“I think I might be done having kids”, Delgado said.
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“They will stay their course”, Schaffner said. “I’m concerned that this is just the beginning”.
