Iowa woman tests positive for Zika virus

In Brazil on Friday, ministers, state governors, health authorities and members of the armed forces visited schools throughout the country to involve students in the nationwide campaign to eradicate the Aedes aegypti mosquito that spreads the Zika virus.

The first case of a virus which can cause major birth defects in pregnant women has been confirmed in North Carolina, according to the Surry County Health and Nutrition Center.

“Brazil is going to have a fantastic Olympics and it’s going to be a successful Olympics and the world is going to go there”, Bruce Aylward, senior official for WHO’s Zika response team said at a news conference.

Brazil said it has confirmed more than 500 cases of microcephaly, mostly in the Northeast, and considers a lot of them to be related to Zika infections in mothers.

Officials said that detecting Zika through the Sentinel Chicken Program really isn’t an option. “While travel-related cases don’t present a public health threat to North Carolina, we always actively monitor emerging global situations and adjust resources to meet needs”.

Like dengue, West Nile and yellow fever, Zika virus is a mosquito-borne tropical disease, meaning mosquitoes transmit the disease to humans. Infected people usually clear the symptoms – fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes – in less than 10 days, and there have been no cases in which the virus has been transmitted locally in the U.S. Women who are trying to become pregnant should talk to their doctor about their plans to become pregnant and the risk of Zika virus infection.

Last month, the World Health Organization said Zika virus will touch all of the Americas, except for Canada and Chile.

Pregnant women are advised to delay travel to Zika-affected areas.

The United Nations’ health agency said it could take a further four to six months for it to be able to say with certainty whether the Zika virus is associated with the birth defect, which can cause severe developmental problems. Lab tests have detected the virus in the brain tissue of a few babies with microcephaly. According to the state, only about one out of five people infected with Zika are symptomatic. The Iowa resident – whose hometown has not been disclosed – recently traveled to countries where transmission of the virus is ongoing.

Deutsch also recommended the use of insect repellents that contain DEET.

Wearing long-sleeved shirts and trousers.