The virus is primarily spread through bites from a specific mosquito.
But as far as the state involvement, Hellerstedt says much of the response to an outbreak of the disease will come from local officials like San Antonio’s Metro Health, to which he advised how spraying large sections of a city for the Aedes mosquito is useless.
His agency last month found the Zika virus in the brain tissue of two dead newborns from Brazil and in placentas from two miscarriages. It is suspected – but not proven – that the virus is to blame for a birth defect called microcephaly that causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads and possible brain damage. They asked for emergency funding from Congress to battle an outbreak that is quickly spreading through Latin America.
Only one in five people infected with Zika experience illness and even then they are normally mild symptoms.
The country’s Ministry of Health said that health workers and members of the armed forces have paid a visit to 20.7m homes in Brazil, which equals 30 percent of all the nation’s private residences, the Guardian wrote.
Meanwhile, Brazil has signed an agreement with a Texas research hospital to develop a vaccine against the Zika virus, the country’s health minister said Thursday, adding the goal is for the vaccine to be ready for clinical testing within 12 months.
While the CDC recommends that women who are pregnant consider postponing travel to the impacted areas, it’s important to remember that the mosquito that normally carries the virus is not known to be circulating in our state’s mosquito population. The World Health Organization (WHO) now estimates there could be up to 4 million cases of Zika in the Americas in the next year.
Meanwhile, the University of Louisville Center for Predictive Medicine is hosting a discussion to bring together infectious disease researchers to address the Zika virus.
“We know it will take time but we are optimistic that we can develop the vaccine in a shorter time”, said Castro. Pregnant U.S. government employees or their pregnant spouses who are covered under State’s medical program have been offered medical evacuation from areas under CDC travel alerts for Zika or have the option of shortening their tours of duty. Transmitted by mosquitoes, most people have few symptoms. Representatives from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are expected as well.