Zika Virus Expected to Spread in All American Countries
WHO pointed out that since people had not been exposed to Zika before it emerged in Brazil last May they lacked immunity, allowing the virus to spread quickly.
WHO pointed out that since people had not been exposed to Zika before it emerged in Brazil last May they lacked immunity, allowing the virus to spread quickly.
‘Unlike some other international health scares, the Zika virus do not spread person to person. But it is a threat to pregnant women and their fetuses.’
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Castro said that the government, under growing pressure to deal with the crisis, will also hand out repellent to at least 400,000 pregnant women on social welfare. Zika is linked to serious birth defects, including microcephaly, in which babies born to women infected during pregnancy have abnormally small heads. A surge in incidents across Latin America, notably in Brazil, has prompted the United States and other governments to warn pregnant women against traveling to the region -- an alarming prospect for Brazil as it gears up to welcome the Olympics to Rio de Janeiro in August.
Unlike some other international health scares, the Zika virus is not spread person to person. And for most people who get infected, the flu-like symptoms will clear up in about a week. But the specific threat to pregnant women and their fetuses, and the seeming impossibility of avoiding mosquitoes in tropical countries, has given this crisis extra bite.
All You Wanted to Know About the Zika Virus That is Sweeping Latin America
The world's latest health scare is a seemingly minor illness that carries a killer wrapped inside: Zika, the mosquito-borne virus sweeping Latin America.
The world's latest health scare is a seemingly minor illness that carries a killer wrapped inside: Zika, the mosquito-borne virus sweeping Latin America.
And short of not getting pregnant, there is no foolproof method for avoiding risk. Castro said last week that the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which carries Zika and also dengue fever and the chikungunya virus, was gaining momentum.
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Rio de Janeiro carnival goers celebrated the coming Olympics on Saturday and even turned fear of infection from Zika-carrying mosquitos into an excuse to party.
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Expert Studies Traits of Mosquitoes That Spreads Zika Virus
Few insects evoke the aversion that mosquitoes do. But beyond their nuisance factor, mosquitoes are carriers of some of the world's most serious illnesses.
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