CDC team kicks off Zika study in Brazil focused on Zika

While the Zika virus is spreading explosively in the Americas, where an increasing number of microcephaly cases are being reported, rumors about the virus and microcephaly are also swirling. This allows the detection of any microorganism that could be present in the samples, but only Zika virus genome was found. The RNA of the two Zika virus samples was then compared with samples from previous outbreaks, and was found to be genetically related to the strain identified in French Polynesia in 2013.

People traveling to areas of active virus transmission should take steps to prevent infection.

Talking about America, of the 80 registered Zika cases in Mexico, 45 are in the southern state of Chiapas including three of the pregnant women. And it’s not considered ethical to infect people, especially pregnant women, in an experiment to see what happens – not when there seems to be a real chance that a volunteer could be seriously harmed.

Cuban President Raul Castro called on the entire Cuban population to help eradicate the mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus on Monday and ordered 9000 army troops to help stave off the disease.

It is associated with neurological disorders microcephaly in babies and Guillain-Barre syndrome, which can cause paralysis.

“Having the data at this point in time are very critically important for understanding the impact Zika might be having in the future and as it spreads in the region”, says J.

Colombia has now registered more than 37,000 cases of people infected with Zika, including more than 6,300 pregnant women, the country’s National Institute of Health reported Saturday. Other common symptoms include muscle pain and headache.

Aedes albopictus, one of the offending mosquito types, is an invasive species and increasingly warm climates could allow them to migrate farther north. Researchers are also investigating the possibility that a mosquito native to Canada, the Aedes culex, which already transmits viruses of the same family as Zika, could be a cause for concern. The spike in microcephaly prompted the World Health Organisation on February 1 to declare Zika an worldwide health emergency.

The Zika virus was first isolated from a rhesus monkey in the Zika forest in Uganda in 1947 and from humans in Nigeria in 1968.

A malicious spam campaign has been set up by criminals seeking to capitalize on fears surrounding the Zika virus in Brazil.

The World Health Organization has said evidence is growing that Zika causes microcephaly, a birth defect in which a baby has an abnormally small head and often incomplete brain development.

The statement added that there is no evidence linking any vaccine to the increase in microcephaly cases that were observed first in French Polynesia during the 2013-2014 outbreak and more recently in northeastern Brazil.