Illinois Health Officials Report 3rd Case of Zika Virus

Ministry of Health and Medical Services spokesperson Evelyn Mani said: “The Ministry is also aware that the mosquito vector for Zika and Dengue (Aedes Aegypti) is abundant in Fiji”.

Recently, there has been a link between the virus and serious birth defects, which is why the CDC has imposed travel restriction for pregnant women.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said Friday that he doesn’t think U.S. airports need to screen travellers arriving from nations with Zika cases. Since the outbreak in Brazil, the virus has spread to multiple countries in South America, Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico.

The World Health Organization has raised a global alert because the disease has spread in Brazil and 22 countries in the Americas.

“At this time it is also recommended that women who are pregnant postpone any travel to a Zika Virus-infected country”, said Morrison.

Officials stressed that if the six Bexar County patients have the virus, they would have been infected outside the United States. These warnings are aimed especially at women who are pregnant or may become pregnant in the next year. As there is no vaccine yet for Zika, pregnant women are at risk as their babies could be born with the rare condition.

On Wednesday, federal Health Minister Jane Philpott reported that two British Colombians contracted the virus – one after returning from El Salvador and the other after coming back from Columbia.

The virus’ symptoms tend to be slight, and include fever, rash, pain or conjunctivitis.

Experts predict they could be as many as 4 million cases of the virus in Latin America in the next year. There is no specific treatment for the virus, but a quick recovery is expected if you contract it. “And secondly, that we’ve got really good border protection around mosquitos and a whole range of other insects”, he said.

While this is not proof that Zika virus has caused these malformations, a possible association can not be ruled out given the evidence available. “So right now the risk of contracting the Zika virus from a mosquito bite in Pennsylvania is not a possibility”.