Dominican Republic confirms 10 Zika cases

A woman leaves her apartment as health workers fumigates her neighbourhood as part of preventive measures against the Zika virus and other mosquito-borne diseases in Soyapango, El Salvador, January 21, 2016.

The Rio 2016 local organising committee said inspectors would try to eliminate stagnant waters where mosquitoes breed.

The announcement by the Rio authorities comes amidst growing attention around the world over the large number of cases of Zika in the Americas. The virus will not cause infections in a baby that is conceived after the virus is cleared from the blood.

The disease spread swiftly, hitting hardest the poor and underdeveloped region in the country’s northeast.

The Ministry of Health has recorded more than 3,700 cases of microcephaly in the 13 months since the beginning of 2015. The virus is transmitted by the Aedes mosquito to humans.

Recently, the Zika virus has reached the U.S. affecting those who have traveled to Latin America and the Caribbean.

A pregnant woman was among those patients.

Health officials said 15 of the cases are among the indigenous population; 10 are in Chiapas, four in Nuevo León and one in Jalisco.

However, about 80% of mosquito breeding takes place in and around housing, “which shows that the fight…is a duty for all”, the mayor’s office said.

At one street party Saturday, carnival-goers danced to a song that caught the mood of fear – and defiance – in the Olympic city. The defect can cause brain damage and death.

On the eve of winter storm Jonas, Jan. 22, the New York State Department of Health announced the discovery of three Zika cases within the state, each contracted during travel to endemic countries.

Here are some questions and answers on the virus. Authorities are looking for more than 250 people who may have come into contact with the man. Of those, 37 were at “high risk” of contracting the virus, the ministry said, without giving further details.

Symptoms of Zika, which is transmitted by mosquitoes, usually include fever, a rash and headaches. But the difficulty of diagnosing Zika and the fact that Guillain-Barre can set in weeks later have made it tough to confirm the link. Cases linked to Zika have been reported in Brazil and French Polynesia. The other three were imported.

Between 2010 and 2014, the South American country only had about 156 cases of babies who were born with microcephaly per year. Forty-nine of those babies have died.

The virus-carrying mosquitoes would then pass along the virus when they feed on another person. They should wear clothing that covers the body and limbs, apply insect repellent, and sleep under mosquito nets or in rooms with wire-mesh screens.

Travelers have also brought it back to Florida, Hawaii and NY. The same mosquito transmits dengue and chikungunya.