Zika Virus: The Cause Of The Outbreak

The updated alert by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention brings the total to 22 destinations, most in Latin America and the Caribbean, where there have been outbreaks of the Zika virus.

The mosquito-borne Zika virus has already been connected to birth defects in Brazilian newborns, but a new report from health officials indicates it could also be tied to a rare paralysis syndrome.

Public Health England advises women who are pregnant, or planning to become pregnant, should consider avoiding areas affected by the virus.

You can protect yourself by wearing long sleeves, using mosquito repellent and keeping standing water around your house drained. Most infected people don’t develop symptoms.

The virus has now reached 14 other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika, which causes mild fevers and rashes. The connection to Zika is still being investigated, and health officials note there are many causes of the condition, including genetics, and exposure during pregnancy to alcohol and certain germs and toxic chemicals.

“We’re recommending that women who may get pregnant plan their pregnancies and try to avoid getting pregnant this year and the next”, Salvadoran vice minister of health, Eduardo Espinoza, told CNNEspanol Thursday.

The virus is transmitted through mosquito bites and “is not spread directly from person to person”, according to PHE.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed late yesterday afternoon that an Arkansas resident has tested positive for Zika virus. The average for the nerve disorder cases for the entire year in the country in 169. The kind of mosquitoes that can carry the virus are found in the southwestern United States. No other country besides Brazil has reported an increase in birth defects yet.

In May 2015, the first local transmission of Zika virus in the Region of the Americas was reported in Brazil.

In March 2015 an Italian traveller contracted Zika virus after he visited Salvador de Bahia in Brazil.

It does “not spread directly from person to person”, the statement said. Samoa, in the south Pacific, is also reporting Zika for the first time.

With the confirmation made Saturday, Zika is now circulating on both sides of the island of Hispaniola that the Dominican Republic shares with Haiti where one case of the virus was recently confirmed.