First Zika case confirmed in South Africa

Iowa has recorded its first confirmed Zika virus infection, in a woman who recently traveled to Central America, the state health department reported Friday.

The news about the Ontario case comes as insect scientists at Brock University in St. Catharines have received a shipment of the virus to test whether mosquitoes native to Canada could become infected with the pathogen and potentially transmit it to humans. “All we’re doing is to make sure that indeed we check whether it was the Zika virus, because that’s what the NICD must conserve with the laboratory that has done the test”.

The province says the risk to Ontarians remains “very low” as mosquitos known to transmit the virus are not established in Canada and not suited to this country’s climate. He adds anyone who traveled to countries affected by Zika virus and are concerned they might have contracted the disease should speak with their doctor to see if they need to be tested.

The studies seek to confirm that the mosquito-borne virus is responsible for an unprecedented surge in Brazil of babies born with abnormally small heads, a condition called microcephaly, and that it can cause Guillain-Barré syndrome, a temporary paralysis in adults.

Zika has caused worldwide alarm, with the World Health Organisation declaring it a global public health emergency earlier this month.

A view in a macro lens of “Aedes aegypti” mosquito, which spreads the Zika, Dengue and Chikunguna viruses, at the epidemiology department of Guatemala City, Guatemala, on 1 February 2016.

Symptoms of Zika typically include fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its interim guidelines for healthcare providers who care for infants and children with possible Zika virus infection.

Researchers are closely watching Colombia, the country with the most Zika cases after Brazil, but no microcephaly cases.

The CDC will monitor 100 babies with microcephaly and their mothers in Brazil and compare them with healthy babies to determine whether Zika caused the brain defects during the early months of pregnancy.