Health officials in New York have reported 3 cases of Zitka
virus acquired while traveling to regions rife with the disease carrying mosquitoes.
Although there is now a wide swath of countries and tropical islands seriously
affected by Zitka infections, including Mexico, the Caribbean and several South
American nations, Brazil has been hardest hit, with more than 1.5 million
reported cases according the Pan American Health Organizations.
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| Zika virus is here in New York |
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Those at greatest risk are pregnant women, who risk giving
birth to still born
babies, or those with microcephaly (or small head size) and poorly developed
brains. To date Brazil has recorded 3,893 suspected cases of birth defects attributed
to Zitka virus. As a result, the country is now recommending that women
postpone pregnancies for at least 2-years.
The news could not come at a worse time for the South
American nation, which is gearing up to host the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro
this summer (technically winter there), August 5-21. In the meantime, the
Ministry of Health is continuing to scour the Olympic and Paralympic cites for
any breeding grounds for the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that transmit Zitka (as
well as chikungunya and dengue diseases). The mosquitoes are also endemic
throughout West Africa, the Congo, Southeast Asia and parts of Indonesia.
In the meantime, New York State Health Commissioner Howard
Zucker issued a statement saying that despite the diagnoses here, “there is
virtually no risk of acquiring Zitka here at this time, as the virus cannot be
spread through casual contact with infected people, and this is not mosquito
season.” Still, anyone traveling abroad needs to take special precautions to
avoid being bitten. At present there is no vaccine against Zitka, and while
British scientists are at work trying to develop a means of endowing suicide
genes in the mosquitoes that will “kick in before they are able to reproduce,”
it will probably take 3-years before the project is successful.
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| NYC begins fight against the Zika virus |
Source: http://www.edtreatmentindia.com/
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