Three new cases of local Zika transmission in Florida

The agency said its decision to expand blood screening in the United States was based on concerns about more cases of local transmission in Florida.

Amnuay added that authorities were also looking into microcephaly cases in Thailand to determine if there were links to Zika infections.

Linn said Collier is among the districts already putting the governor’s additional $26 million Zika-fighting dollars to good use. Vision problems and malformed joints have also been documented recently.

Hearing loss varied in severity, but researchers reported that at least four of the children had hearing loss with no other potential cause than Zika infection.

Although there is no vaccine for the Zika virus yet, there are certain kinds of drugs that can potentially treat Zika, according to researchers.

The Ministry of Health and Social Development confirmed five cases of the Zika virus in the British Virgin Islands last week.

Marks said the FDA had already reviewed data submitted by the companies and was confident these investigational tests would “perform appropriately” in this setting.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued emergency authorization to combat the Zika virus using a drug called Roche as samples are tested from blood donations.

A major difficulty is that while Zika can cause mild fever, a rash and red eyes, an estimated 80 percent of people infected have no symptoms.

“Today, we can identify the Zika virus in local labs”.

The current outbreak in the Americas has led to numerous reports of microcephaly and other brain abnormalities in babies.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state health department first identified a one-square mile area of Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood on July 29 as the only place in the nation with active spread of Zika by mosquitoes. The CDC is studying a possible link between Zika and Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a neurological illness.

Kansas first case was reported in March.

While two cases have been reported in Palm Beach County, public health officials said they scoured the areas where the victims live and work and found no other infections. A Sri Lankan foreign ministry official said it had not been informed of any infections, and the Chinese foreign ministry said in Beijing it had no information about any of its nationals in Singapore having Zika.

The CDC is now advising that pregnant women avoid traveling to these areas of Miami to reduce their risk of contracting Zika.

MOH will continue to pay particular attention to pregnant women, it said.