Florida finds Zika in trapped mosquitoes, 1st in US mainland

Three groups of mosquitoes have tested positive for the Zika virus in Miami Beach, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has found.

“Pregnant women must carefully consider the risks before visiting Singapore because their children could be born with microcephaly”, said Indonesia’s health minister Nila Moeloek.

The Brazos County Health Department received test results confirming the second case of travel-associated Zika virus infection in Brazos County.

First detected in Brazil past year, Zika can cause the rare birth defect microcephaly, marked by abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains, when pregnant women are infected. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, “According to our mission in Singapore 13 Indian nationals have tested positive for Zika in Singapore”.

Zika is transmitted by the mosquito Aedes aegypti and causes symptoms similar to dengue.

Singapore depends heavily on foreign labour, and industries like construction and the marine sector are dominated by workers from China and South Asia. The first case of pregnant woman with Zika virus infection was also recorded in the city state.

“The source of infection is suspected to occur in Singapore, since the patient started experiencing signs of Zika on the same day with her daughter in Singapore”, Subramaniam said. He added that states are also struggling with emergency preparedness funding for Zika.

Malaysia’s minster of health spoke to reporters on Thursday.

The total number of confirmed Zika virus cases has reached up to 115 in Singapore, including the first pregnant woman who has been diagnosed with the virus, the authorities said on Wednesday evening.

Many people infected with Zika virus won’t have symptoms or will only have mild symptoms. We are aggressively working to eliminate any and all potential mosquito breeding grounds.

A little more than a week after Palm Beach Gardens beefed up its Zika prevention measures, North Palm Beach announced it will host a seminar about the mosquito-borne virus. “The CDC is performing an additional test to verify that this is Zika and to identify the strain of the virus”. More than a dozen Indian nations had contracted the virus, an official who worked at the Indian High Commission in Singapore told Reuters.