Zika remains global emergency, virus still spreading

Although Zika was first identified in 1947, the virus wasn’t considered a major health threat until a major outbreak in Brazil a year ago revealed that it can lead to severe birth defects when pregnant women are infected.

The CDC also is advising pregnant women not to travel to an area where active Zika transmission is ongoing, and to use insect repellent and wear long trousers and long-sleeved shirts if they are in those areas.

Thirty-one new cases of Zika have been confirmed in Singapore, raising to 151 the number of persons infected by the mosquito-borne virus in the Southeast Asian city-state, the government said on Friday. Women who may become pregnant in the near future, and their partners, are also urged to take extra precautions when living or traveling in Zika hotspots.

No Olympic athletes or spectators who presented themselves to health authorities with possible symptoms have been found to actually have Zika, Heymann said.

“She will be referred to a maternal-foetal medicine specialist for counselling and advice”.

More than two-thirds of people infected with Zika never get sick, and symptoms are mild for those who do and as such, the surveillance systems may have missed cases. Infection during pregnancy is believed to result in babies with small heads – a condition called microcephaly – and other brain defects.

Tropical Malaysia, which is already struggling hard to control Zika virus spread, it has stimulating the last weekend visit, reported. The CDC now recommends women wait at least eight weeks after their symptoms first appeared before trying to get pregnant.

The NEA has also conducted vector control operations and outreach efforts in Bedok North Avenue 3. Other isolated cases not linked to travel outside the USA also have been confirmed elsewhere in Miami-Dade county, as well as in neighboring counties and in the Tampa Bay area, totaling 47 for the state.

“We don’t have a definitive answer”, said Dr. Peter Salama, WHO’s director of emergencies.

“However, there are still many unknowns about the virus and how it spreads, including which local species of mosquito are most capable of transmitting the virus, and whether immunity exists in areas that have previously reported cases of Zika virus”.

He said Malaysians driving to and from Singapore had been advised to spray mosquito repellents in their vehicles to prevent the insects from being inadvertently brought into Malaysia. Among the foreigners infected, 23 are from China, 15 are from India and 10 from Bangladesh, the Health Ministry said Thursday. It has a chronic problem with dengue fever, spread by the same Aedes mosquito that carries Zika.