US FDA steps in to cut Zika transmission risk through surgeries

The woman had Zika virus symptoms late in her pregnancy, according to a Seattle Times report yesterday.

The mosquito-borne virus has been linked to birth defects, including the brain defect Microcephaly, where babies are born with abnormally small brains; and Guillian-Barre syndrome, a rare condition in which the immune system attacks nerve cells leading to paralysis.

Nakashima said the virus was “understandably frightening” because of the possibility of it being a cause of birth defect microcephaly.

The US Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday issued new recommendations aimed at reducing the risk of Zika virus transmission through donated human tissues and cells used in surgical or reproductive procedures, such as umbilical cord blood, corneas and heart valves.

The incubation period is about seven days, with usually minor symptoms like fever, rash, red itchy eyes, and joint pain. But as many as 80 percent of people infected never develop symptoms.

Florida has more confirmed Zika cases than any other state, according to the CDC, which has reported 107 cases in the continental United States as of February 24. All symptoms have since cleared, the department said.

The Zika virus is most commonly transmitted by the Aedes species mosquito, which flourishes in tropical climates and does not live in Colorado.

The state can now test for the Zika virus at a Rocky Hill laboratory instead of sending samples to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Otherwise, health officials urge anyone considering travel to countries where the virus is circulating to be aware of the need to protect themselves and others from mosquito bites.

The two Colorado cases highlight the need to exercise caution when traveling to areas where Zika is spreading and to use mosquito repellent while visiting those countries, Rowe said. Outbreaks of Zika have been recorded in Africa, the Americas, Southern Asia and the Western Pacific.

Deceased tissue donors should be considered ineligible if they were diagnosed with Zika virus infection in the past six months.

Experts say people traveling to South- and Central America, as well as the Caribbean, are now at risk.