Florida governor declares health emergency in four counties over Zika

Small Aedes mosquitoes are the primary carriers of the Zika virus.

“Although Florida’s current nine Zika cases were travel-related, we have to ensure Florida is prepared and stays ahead of the spread of the Zika virus in our state”, Scott said in a statement.

“One of the messages we’ve received today is that what’s good for dengue is good for Zika”, Mr Dick said. The five counties under a state of emergency are Broward, Miami-Dade, Hillsborough, Lee and Santa Rosa.

South American health ministers meeting in Uruguay have pledged to work together in the fight against Zika.

The health department of Campinas, an industrial city near Sao Paulo, said a man with gunshot wounds became infected with Zika after multiple blood transfusions in April 2015.

The virus, linked to babies born with abnormally small heads and birth defects in Brazil, is spreading rapidly in the Americas and the WHO declared an global public health emergency on Monday about the condition, known as microcephaly.

“Officials from Kansas City Southern’s subsidiary railroads in the U.S., Mexico and Panama are aware of the Zika virus situation and are monitoring it. In Panama, regular fumigation is carried out to suppress mosquitoes”.

Health officials emphasize the disease is generally spread through mosquito bites.

Most people infected with Zika experience, at the most, only mild symptoms. Organisers of the Games said on Tuesday they were concerned by the rapid spread of Zika, but had not seen evidence of people cancelling travel. About one in five people infected with Zika virus show symptoms.

Officials say a vaccine typically takes ten years to develop, but they are working with urgency to find a Zika cure. He urged residents to be careful if they have traveled recently to Central or South America, regions now dealing with an escalation of the disease.

Also, donors who have travelled to countries affected by the Zika outbreak can not give blood for a month after returning home, officials have said. They include a rash, joint pain, conjunctivitis and a slight fever.

“Mosquitoes would be the great river of transmission, while sexual transmission is going to be akin to a mountain stream”, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University. “So far there are no reports of pregnant women infected through sex so we just don’t know”, Pavia says.