Major US Airlines Respond to Zika Virus in Wake of Travel Advisories

A health worker stands in the Sambadrome as he sprays insecticide to combat the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that transmits the Zika virus in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016.

There is no specific medicine and there hasn’t been a vaccine developed for it, which is the case for some other tropical illnesses that cause periodic outbreaks. It was found in a woman in her 60s living in Anoka county who returned from a trip to Honduras. The virus has been linked with microcephaly which can leave affected newborns with unusually small heads and abnormal brain development.

Local transmission of Zika virus has not been identified in the continental United States, CDC officials said, but limited local transmission, rather than widespread transmission, of Zika could occur.

But Brazil is far from alone: Zika has spread to some 20 countries in Latin America and the World Health Organisation (WHO) warns it is expected to spread to every country in the Americas except Canada and Chile.

Obama was briefed on the potential spread of the virus by his top health and national security officials on Tuesday.

The CDC has also said that cases of the neurological disorder Guillain-Barre syndrome have been reported in patients with probable Zika virus infection in Brazil and French Polynesia, although more study is needed to confirm the link. For example, it is not clear how common Zika infections are in pregnant women, or when during a pregnancy a woman is most at risk of transmitting the virus to her fetus.

The Centers for Disease Control confirmed Wednesday the woman contracted the virus.

The ministry stopped publishing data on all epidemic diseases a year ago.

Non-government organizations have reported a sharp increase in unusual fevers in the country.

Francisco Jorge tells public broadcaster RTP there’s one other “very probable” but unconfirmed case of a Portuguese who recently visited Colombia.

Ugandan researchers say the mosquito-transmitted Zika virus is not considered a threat in the African country where it was first discovered in a monkey in 1947.

Infectious disease expert Leong Hoe Nam of Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital said 90 per cent of patients do not exhibit symptoms of the virus, making cases hard to catch.

“With no vaccine or treatment now available to prevent or treat Zika infection, the best way for individuals-and pregnant women in particular-to protect themselves is to avoid traveling to places where Zika is known to be spreading”, Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said in a blog post Tuesday. At least one American cruise line is helping passengers reschedule too.