Zika virus cases in Germany, but spread ‘very unlikely’

The rapid spread of the Zika virus has raised interest in a British company that’s developed a genetically modified mosquito.

Both Brazil’s Zika outbreak and the spike in microcephaly have been concentrated in the poor and underdeveloped northeast of the country, though the prosperous southeast, where Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are located, are the second hardest-hit region.

Those mosquitoes are mostly dormant now, said Min-Lee Cheng, manager of the West Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District, which covers western San Bernardino County.

The government will begin an awareness campaign, discouraging travel to Latin America and educating citizens on how to avoid mosquito bites.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is predicting that the Zika virus would likely spread in the America and even reach all countries where the insect responsible for its transmission, the Aedes mosquito, could be found. The WHO expands its fast spread to South, Central and North America’s population lacking immunity due to not being previously exposed to the virus.

The Oxitec mosquitoes are still being reviewed by the US Food and Drug Administration and a plan to use them in Florida met fierce opposition following headlines about ‘genetically modified killer mosquitoes’.

Aedes mosquitoes are now not found in Hong Kong, the Health Department said, but the secretary said that other species of mosquito present in the territory are also considered as possible carriers of the disease.

The other thing about Zika that reminds people of Ebola is that there is no vaccine or specific treatment for the infection (although that may be changing in the case of Ebola).

“This is not a proven link but it’s led to a lot of concern and advice about not travelling if pregnant to countries that have active Zika outbreaks, for example parts of Central [and] South America and Brazil and some of the Pacific Islands, such as Samoa”, he said.

The main concern: The virus might cause birth defects including microcephaly, a rare condition in which children are born with damaged, smaller-than-normal brains.

Barker said the current cooler temperatures in the state mean it would take longer for the mosquitoes to transmit the virus. There is no presently no vaccine to protect against Zika virus. People rarely die or need hospitalization.

Anhus University Hospital in Denmark said a patient was discovered to have the virus on Tuesday after running a fever, a headache and muscle aches.

If you ask a mosquito-control expert what keeps him up at night, there’s a good chance he’ll bring up Rift Valley virus, endemic to sub-Saharan Africa, where it primarily infects livestock and wild animals.

Virginia is one of a handful of states with a confirmed case of the Zika virus.