CDC sends Florida 950 kits to test for Zika virus antibodies

Earlier this week, Texas health authorities confirmed the first case of Zika in someone who had not traveled overseas to an affected country.

The department said both patients are women who traveled recently to outbreak-affected countries.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the infection was Zika virus.

Most people with Zika won’t show symptoms.

A spokesperson for the Allegheny County Health Department said all four people traveled to Zika-affected areas. Three cases of Zika have been reported in IL and one possible case in Chicago, and health officials expect the number of Zika infections to rise after students take warm-weather vacations on spring break. A 30-year-old Cleveland woman contracted the virus on a recent trip to Haiti.

The disease, which is carried by the same mosquito that produced dengue fever and chikungunya, is particularly risky pregnant women and is believed linked to microcephaly – a congenital condition that is characterized by newborns with unusually small heads and incomplete brain development.

Deputy Director Tyler Brock says Siouxland District Health is receiving several calls daily about the Zika Virus. Still, pregnant women or those howling to get pregnant are advised not to travel to countries where the mosquito borne virus is causing birth defects. The mosquito is a vector for the proliferation of the Zika virus now spreading throughout Latin America.

However, the CDC has reported additional cases of Zika being spread through unprotected sexual contact with an infected person, though those case are isolated.

The White House said: “As spring and summer approach, bringing with them larger and more active mosquito populations, we must be fully prepared to mitigate and quickly address local transmission within the continental USA, particularly in the southern United States”.

However, he said, the CDC is getting ready for Zika’s arrival in the U.S.

“Prevention of mosquito-borne Zika virus transmission is the same as prevention of any other mosquito-borne diseases”, Dr. DiOrio said.

Rachael Kagan, spokesperson for the San Francisco Department of Public Health, described Zika as causing a mild illness but with the potential to cause birth defects.

An epidemic of Zika virus is plaguing Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and South America.