APNewsBreak: Florida governor declares Zika emergency

Indian drugs company Bharat Biotech, for instance, said it was developing the world’s first Zika vaccine and was ready to test it on animals. The other two contracted it this year on trips to South America and Central America.

In the US, Florida Governor Rick Scott said the state has three new cases of Zika and he is adding a fifth county to his health emergency declaration.

There have been no reports of the virus is being transmitted from mosquitoes to people in the US, though officials are concerned that small outbreaks could happen as the weather warms. Earlier, WHO had declared a global health emergency, citing a “strongly suspected” causal relationship between Zika infection in pregnant women and microcephaly in infants.

The virus causes flu-like symptoms, but pregnant women are most at risk as it has been linked to birth defects causing babies to be born with underdeveloped heads.

The virus is also unsafe for those with compromised immune systems and has so far been reported in 20 countries in Latin America over the last nine months.

“It’s February, it’s not mosquito season … and this isn’t a communicable disease”, Williams said.

Fortunately, the World Health Organization, as well as our own Centers for Disease Control, are giving the epidemic the attention it requires.

Health leaders said the chance of an outbreak here is low because the United States has much better mosquito control and that limits the spread of disease.

This marks the second confirmed case of Zika in Texas and in the USA overall.

The CDC is also urging pregnant women and those who are trying to become pregnant to avoid traveling to any regions affected by the virus.

Experts say the vast majority of Zika cases are transmitted by mosquitoes.

Although the symptoms of the virus are relatively mild and only 1 in 5 persons exposed to it become ill, those who are experiencing fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (pink eye) have been strongly advised to seek immediate medical care.

Meanwhile, in Brazil, a person had caught the virus after a blood tranfusion from a donor who had been infected with Zika.