Department of Health prepared for when Zika virus comes to Indiana

The evidence, however, does not yet offer a conclusive evidence that Zika virus could be sexually transmitted.

Current evidence suggests that Zika virus is likely to persist and spread in the Americas and the South Pacific.

The Vietnamese health authority has warned people coming from countries with the Zika virus to monitor their health for 14 days and if they develop fever to report to medical facilities.

The total number of 20,297 infected people reflects the rapid spreading of the Zika virus in Colombia, since the previous INS bulletin, issued just a week before, showed there were only 890 pregnant Colombians infected and a total of 16,419 people with Zika.

“We will continue to assess the risk on an ongoing basis by working with our partners, and support enhanced awareness for Ontarians”.

Health officials are advising pregnant women to consider postponing travel to areas where the Zika virus transmission is active.

The Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention has also been sending text messages to people traveling in regions where Zika has spread to inform them of the disease and preventive measures.

Although the mosquito-borne virus’s symptoms are relatively mild, it is believed to be linked to a surge in cases of microcephaly, a devastating condition in which a baby is born with an abnormally small head and brain.

Operation Blessing International is distributing mosquito nets to pregnant women in El Salvador and Haiti. The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain, or conjunctivitis (red eyes). USA Today reported that it has also been associated with “increases in Guillain-Barre syndrome, in which the immune system attacks the nervous system, causing paralysis”. More than 60 per cent of those infected are women.

Last year, there were reported cases of the Zika virus in Frech Polynesia, Easter Island and Samoa.

In a statement issued on Friday, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said the advice of some governments to women to delay getting pregnant “ignores the reality” that many women have little control over the circumstances in which that happens. The U.S. hopes to begin human vaccine trials this year.