State confirms Zika virus in traveler after Honduras trip

The World Health Organization said this week that the virus is likely to eventually reach the USA and other countries that have Aedes mosquitoes. Infections are also a cause – in the United States, one of the leading causes is cytomegalovirus – although Zika-like viruses have not previously been linked to microcephaly. The baby’s mother had shown evidence that she had the virus while traveling in Brazil.

Two major USA airlines are offering refunds to passengers anxious about the outbreak in many tropical countries.

LA County health officials said Tuesday that the adolescent girl contracted the disease when she traveled to El Salvador in late November, but she has since recovered.

Where did the virus come from?

Four similar cases were reported in NY, as well as single cases in California, Minnesota, Virginia and Arkansas among people who had traveled to the affected region.

Cases of the Zika virus continue to grow, with health departments reporting at least 19 people diagnosed in the USA and 19 people infected in Puerto Rico. The virus is associated with a unsafe birth defect called microcephaly, which results in an underdeveloped brain and head. It causes severe brain damage.

This week the city sent fumigators into the Carnival stadium, also known as the Sambodrome, which will stage the top Samba schools parade on February 7th and 8th-and will also be used for the Olympic Archery events in August. Officials in El Salvador, Colombia and Brazil have suggested women stop getting pregnant until the crisis has passed. Women’s health advocates, however, said that advice was not appropriate.

Lucey is a great fan of the agency’s handling of Zika, and points to the CDC website as the best source of public information about the virus.

Symptoms include fever, red and bumpy rashes, joint pain and pinkeye – but some patients have no symptoms at all. These symptoms can last from a few days to about a week.

Manuela Mehl, a Rio resident who is 16 weeks pregnant, says when she learned about the Zika virus she panicked and stopped leaving the house.

There is no confirmation whether they have returned to the United Kingdom or if any of the three are pregnant women.

“Right now it’s very much for us to have a good surveillance and be aware of it, but not have a panic”, Young said. Airlines and cruise companies are now allowing pregnant woman to cancel, change or postpone their trips to areas in the Caribbean and South America affected by the Zika virus.