Zika outbreak likely to worsen

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with state health departments, is investigating 14 new reports of possible sexual transmission of Zika in the USA, the agency announced Tuesday. Public health authorities say the number of new Zika cases among travelers visiting or returning to the United States will likely increase with this recent outbreak.

Scientists from two hospitals in the United States have developed the country’s first hospital-based rapid test for the Zika virus, significantly cutting the diagnosis time, local media reported on Tuesday.

Health officials said the virus can best be avoided by taking precautions to avoid mosquito bites when traveling such as wearing long-sleeved shirts and long trousers when outdoors, noting the mosquitoes which transmit the Zika virus bite primarily during the daytime hours.

The CDC is urging individuals to follow its previously issued guidance of abstinence or condom use for women, especially those who are pregnant, whose male sexual partners have traveled to a Zika-infected area.

Zika is suspected to be one of the reasons behind serious birth defects including microcephaly, which is caused by damaged brain that has stopped developing inside the mother’s womb. The alert said there was no evidence that women could transmit Zika virus to their sex partners, but added that more research was needed to be sure. At least 34 countries, mostly in the Americas, have active Zika outbreaks and the virus is expected to spread.

MI health officials have confirmed the first case of Zika virus in MI.

On Feb. 22, there were 28 reported cases of the Zika virus in Florida.

Zika virus is spread by by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, according to MDHHS, which are not found in MI. But a growing number of cases with the virus detected in the semen have surfaced. “However, we should still focus on Zika spreading through mosquitos”. CNN reports the CDC is investigating 14 new reports of possible sexual transmission. When symptoms occur, they are often mild, lasting from several days to a week, and include fever, rash, joint and muscle pain, conjunctivitis (red eyes), and headache.

Zika is linked to microcephaly, a birth defect that causes cognitive disorders and unusually small heads in newborns. Officials have also recommended couples consider abstaining from sex for the duration of a pregnancy if the male partner recently traveled to a Zika-affected country.