U.S. experts to visit Brazil to begin Zika vaccine work

The cases – the first of their kind in the country – are unrelated to each other and both patients are said to be now well and fully recovered.

In a 16-point statement issued later, the ministers agreed to share more information on the virus, strengthen public awareness campaigns at border crossings and airports as well as to bolster training of medical staff on how to prevent and treat Zika. Officials say doctors should ask pregnant women about their travel and certain symptoms, and, if warranted, test them for an infection with the Zika virus.

He also said, Next to abstinence, condoms are the best prevention method against any sexually-transmitted infections. The disease could be responsible for a number of problems, from convulsions to learning disabilities. It is found in the southern United States, though no mosquito-borne transmission has been reported in the continental United States to date.

Brazil has reported 1.5 million cases of infection by Zika, more than any other country. No vaccine exists for Zika.

“About four of five people who get infected with Zika never have symptoms at all”, she said.

Rousseff also said Brazil and the United States will enter a partnership to develop a Zika vaccine as soon as possible to stem the spread of the virus.

DCHHS advises individuals with symptoms to see a healthcare provider if they have visited an area where Zika virus is present or had sexual contact with a person who traveled to an area where Zika virus is present.

Schuchat did note that health authorities in Brazil also have reported an increase in Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that causes muscle weakness and paralysis lasting as long as a few years.

Chan, whose agency was assailed as too slow in reacting to West Africa’s Ebola epidemic that killed more than 10,000 people in the past two years, cited “first and foremost the big concern about microcephaly”, the birth defect that causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads and improperly developed brains.

A third study found the virus in the breast milk of infected mothers, and concluded that two babies who tested positive for Zika virus within days of birth possibly acquired it from their mothers’ bodily fluids during pregnancy or birth.

Zika has spread to at least 25 countries and territories since first appearing in the Western Hemisphere last spring. “What we know is the vast majority of spread is going to be from mosquitoes”, Frieden added.

Swiss International Air Lines says female flight attendants and pilots won’t be required to fly to Sao Paulo, Brazil, if they don’t want to because of the Zika virus outbreak.

“Every European country in which Aedes mosquitoes are present can be at risk for the spread of Zika virus disease”.

Since October, Brazil has reported 3,670 suspected cases of microcephaly, of which 404 have been confirmed – up from 147 in 2014.

Brazil has warned pregnant women to stay away from the Summer Olympics, however Rio 2016 communications director Mario Andrada said he did not expect people to cancel trips to Rio for the Games as a result of the Zika virus outbreak.

“We should all be anxious about microcephaly”, Brazilian President Dilma Rouseff said, calling on Congress to partner with her in the fight against the virus.