NIH begins large study of pregnant women in Zika-hit areas

The agency also tests for the Zika virus, but it hasn’t been detected in city mosquitoes.

A potential way to prevent Zika and similar viruses from spreading in the body has been identified, according to research published online June 17 in Nature.

In May 2015, the Pan American Health Organization issued an alert regarding the first confirmed zika virus infections in Brazil. “With your help, we can help minimize the spread of the Zika virus across the commonwealth”.

The Health Department said not everyone infected with West Nile virus becomes sick, but serious complications and neurological diseases can occur.

The KDA’s Division of Environmental Services sprays for mosquitoes at the request of local officials and local health departments.

There is no vaccine to prevent infection and no specific antiviral treatment for Zika.

“Within 9 months from now – by the end of 2016 and into early 2017 – pediatricians working in poor urban areas of the Americas (including the US Gulf Coast) where Zika virus is now emerging can expect to see babies with microcephaly and the full-blown fetal brain disruption sequence”, they write.

Zika can be transmitted from mother to child and cause microcephaly in newborns, a defect which causes a child to be born with an abnormally small head and which often leads to intellectual disabilities and speech problems. The most common symptoms include fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes.

Dr. Ardis Hoven, infectious disease specialist for the DPH, said the virus is circulating in many areas of the world where Kentuckians travel for vacation, work and mission trips.

Thompson told the Dallas County Commissioner’s Court Tuesday morning that the women all contracted the virus while traveling internationally and that none of the infections were spread locally.

The CDC began screening donated blood in Puerto Rico for the Zika virus in April. Pregnant women who must travel to one of these areas for business or family emergencies should talk to their doctor or other healthcare professional first and strictly follow steps to avoid mosquito bites. A team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has identified a single gene pathway that is vital for Zika and other flaviviruses to spread infection between cells.