Puerto Rico reports 10690 Zika cases amid ongoing epidemic

Money for the Zika vaccine research was to run out at the end of the month, USA Today reported.

Zika was first detected past year in Brazil, where it has taken its heaviest toll so far, and has spread rapidly through the Americas.

“As the first virus that can be transmitted by mosquitoes known to cause severe birth defects, we are working closely with Puerto Rican officials to pursue solutions to fight the virus in Puerto Rico”, said U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell.

President Obama issued a request for $1.9 billion in emergency funding six months ago. “NIH now lacks sufficient funds to support diagnostics, and other activities critical to the Zika research response”.

County officials say two Maui residents who recently traveled overseas are infected with the Zika virus. The disease can cause Microcephaly in pregnant women, which can prevent a baby’s brain and head from developing properly.

Burwell said reappropriating the funds was a short-term solution, noting that “with the actions described above, we have exhausted our ability to even provide short-term financing to help fight Zika”.

Dr. LaMar Hasbrouck, executive director of the National Association of County and City Health Officials, said at the briefing that local health authorities are similarly siphoning off money from other programs. A pregnant woman can pass the virus to her fetus during pregnancy.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans are concerned about the virus spreading across greater swaths of the country in the coming months, according to poll results released Thursday by Suffolk University in Boston. Among U.S. states and territories, Puerto Rico is expected to see the worst of the outbreak due to its tropical climate and a lack of infrastructure for mosquito control.

Murphy says the first Zika case in Wyoming doesn’t mean an increased risk of the illness in the state.

Zika is a mosquito-borne virus. These infections in the United States are thought to have occurred because the patients’ partners had traveled to countries where Zika is circulating, the CDC said.

Keystone said the Aedes mosquito is a daytime-biting insect most active in the morning and late afternoon, and using mosquito repellent and covering your body as much as possible in areas with Zika outbreaks is important. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned pregnant women not to travel to the area.

This Q & A will tell you what you need to know about Zika.