Brazil to fund Zika virus vaccine development

“The Hawaii State Department of Health has received laboratory confirmation from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of a past Zika virus infection in a baby recently born with microcephaly in a hospital on Oahu”, the health department said in a statement posted on its website.

Lately, two other diseases transmitted by the Aedes mosquito, the zika virus and chikungunya fever, started to occur in the country, spreading quickly to all regions and causing an alarm, although unlike dengue, chikungunya and zika are not potentially lethal. It’s the state’s first known case of the mosquito-borne virus, which has been linked to serious birth defects in thousands of babies born recently in Brazil and elsewhere in Latin America. That alert warned pregnant women to avoid traveling to Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala and French Guiana.

In 2007, the Asian strain of the virus was detected moving across the South Pacific; Zika caused a large outbreak on Yap Island that year.

It’s not clear what the officials will tell people just yet, because so little is known about the virus, which is spread by mosquitoes.

According to the CDC, “because the Aedes species mosquitoes that spread Zika virus are found throughout the world, it is likely that outbreaks will spread to new countries”.

There is no vaccine for the Zika virus, so if you do travel to the areas of concern, doctors say insect repellent is the best defense, especially repellent with DEET. CDC is developing interim guidance for pregnant women as well as sharing additional information about Zika with public health officials, clinicians and the public.

Genetic analysis showed that the virus in the four cases was the same as the Zika virus strain now circulating in Brazil.

He urged people who have traveled to areas with Zika activity to get medical care if they have a fever and symptoms of the infection, which include a rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis.

Neither the baby nor the mother are infectious, and there was never a risk of transmission in Hawaii, officials said. Women who can not avoid traveling should consult their doctors and take steps to avoid mosquito bites, such as wearing long sleeves and trousers.

Over a dozen cases of Zika have been reported in the mainland United States – including a recent case in Texas – but so far only in people who have recently traveled to infected areas. The presence of the virus was confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In December 2015, Puerto Rico reported its first confirmed Zika virus case.

There is no vaccine to block the Zika virus and no medicine to treat it.

As the number of reported Zika infections has risen, so have instances of microcephaly. The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting from several days to a week, with hospitalization being uncommon.

Along with a rise in Zika cases in Brazil, more than 3,500 cases of microcephaly have been documented in the country between October 2015 and January 2016.