Obama seeks $1.8 billion to combat Zika virus

The ministry said that the three women have been notified of the results and have been counselled.

The 10 centres would be located in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Karnataka, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Assam. The numbers of the Control Room are 23061469 and 23063205.

The virus is primarily spread through bites from a specific mosquito.

Brazil is grappling with the virus even as it prepares to host the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August, with tens of thousands of athletes and tourists anticipated.

It also asked states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu, which are in the midst of a dengue season, to be on extra vigil. “This is not something where people are going to die from it. It is something we have to take seriously”.

“Through the State Department, affected Americans overseas would receive assistance, while through the Health and Human Services Department, money will be provided to “[enhance] the ability of Zika-affected countries to better combat mosquitoes and control transmission”. The virus is not native to Gulf countries. Experts said those women who are not pregnant or who are not trying to get pregnant, more than likely will not be affected.

According to the White House, the CDC has reported 50 laboratory-confirmed cases among US travelers from December 2015 through February 5, 2016. Most of those infected with Zika virus disease either remain asymptomatic (up to 80%) or show mild symptoms of fever, rash, conjunctivitis, bodyache, joint pains.

United Nations officials also suggested Catholic-majority countries in Latin America to permit women to undergo abortion if they fear that the growing fetus is at risk of microcephaly, a disease that causes new born babies to have small head and underdeveloped brain.

EOC is the command center for monitoring and coordinating the emergency response to Zika, bringing together CDC scientists with expertise in arboviruses, reproductive health, and birth and developmental defects.

Word that Zika can be spread by sexual transmission and blood transfusions and its discovery in saliva and urine of infected people have added to concern over the virus.