China confirms first case of Zika virus

A 30-year-old Cleveland-area woman and a 21-year-old Stark County man, both recent travelers to Haiti, have the virus.

The health commission said he posed an extremely low risk of spreading the virus, the news agency added. The virus is spread to people primarily through bites from an infected Aedes aegypti or Aedes albopictus mosquito. It also recommends that men who have a pregnant partner and reside in or have traveled to an area of active Zika virus transmission abstain from unprotected sexual activity for the duration of the pregnancy. Health officials are investigating whether there is a link between Zika infections in pregnant women and a rare birth defect called microcephaly, in which babies are born with abnormally small heads. Others may have mild fevers, rashes, joint and muscle pains or headaches that last from several days to a week, but “hospitalization is uncommon”.

Instead, a pregnant woman and her unborn baby would be closely monitored for complications.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio) joined three other senators Tuesday in introducing a bill in Congress to accelerate the development of a vaccine and treatments for the Zika virus.

Experts think most people infected with Zika virus don’t get sick. But no cases of the virus in Hong Kong have been reported so far, it said.

“While we are concerned about the health of these individuals and any Pennsylvanian who may be exposed to Zika virus, we want to emphasize that these cases pose no threat to the public”, state health secretary Karen Murphy said in a statement. It is so feared that El Salvador’s government is urging women to put off pregnancies until 2018.

Earlier this week, Pennsylvania health officials said at least 14 patients in the state were awaiting the results of Zika blood tests.

Eliminating breeding spots and controlling mosquito populations can help prevent the spread of the virus.

Thirteen people have been diagnosed with the virus in Queensland since 2014, although there has been no local transmission of the virus.