Airlines Offering Refunds for Travel to Zika-Affected Areas

The Bobster

The Bobster

Senior News Editor since 2004
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...funds-for-Travel-to-Zika-Areas-366628421.html

Airlines Offering Refunds for Travel to Zika-Affected Areas
By The Associated Press
Published at 6:54 PM EST on Jan 26, 2016

Two major U.S. airlines are offering refunds to passengers worried about the Zika virus outbreak in many tropical countries.

United Airlines said customers booked to fly to areas affected by the virus can reschedule or get refunds. American Airlines said it will give refunds to pregnant women who were planning to travel to parts of Central America and provide a doctor's note.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have warned pregnant women to take precautions against mosquito bites when traveling to areas in Latin America and the Caribbean where there have been Zika outbreaks. The CDC said the mosquito-borne illness could be linked to a birth defect of the brain.

The United Airlines offer began Tuesday and includes any country covered by a CDC travel notice, an airline spokesman said. American Airlines began refunds Monday for pregnant passengers holding tickets to El Salvador, Honduras, Panama or Guatemala, according to a spokesman.

A spokesman for Delta Air Lines said the carrier was monitoring the situation but not yet offering waivers. JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines were not immediately able to say whether they were offering refunds. Southwest Airlines said it was sticking to its normal policy, which lets customers who cancel ahead of time reuse the value of their tickets. All of those airlines fly to at least some affected locations.

On Tuesday, the CDC expanded its travel alert for pregnant women to add the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic to the list of areas with Zika outbreaks. The CDC has already recommended that pregnant women consider postponing trips to 22 other destinations.

•In Central and South America: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname and Venezuela.

•In the Caribbean: Barbados, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Martinique, St. Martin and Puerto Rico.

•And Cape Verde, off the coast of western Africa, and Samoa in the South Pacific.
 
http://nypost.com/2016/01/28/zika-virus-spreading-explosively-who-says/

Zika virus ‘spreading explosively,’ WHO says
By Yaron Steinbuch
January 28, 2016 | 8:43am

The Zika virus is “spreading explosively,” the head of the World Health Organization said Thursday — calling for an emergency meeting on the outbreak on Monday.

“The level of alarm is extremely high,” Dr. Margaret Chan told a meeting of WHO member states in Geneva, AFP reported.

The meeting next week will be held to determine if the outbreak qualifies as an international public health emergency.

“Last year the disease was detected in the Americas, where it is spreading explosively,” she said.

It was “deeply concerning” that the virus has been detected in more than 20 countries in the Americas, she added, The Guardian reported.

switzerland_who.jpg

Margaret Chan, general director of the World Health Organization, speaks about the Zika virus during an executive board session at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on January 28, 2016.
Photo: AP


In New York, five people have contracted the virus while traveling — two from the Big Apple and one each from Nassau, Orange and Monroe counties.

Chan cited four reasons for alarm, the paper reported.

“First, the possible association of infection with birth malformations and neurological syndromes,” she said. “Second, the potential for further international spread given the wide geographical distribution of the mosquito vector. Third, the lack of population immunity in newly affected areas. Fourth, the absence of vaccines.”

The El Niño weather patterns this year mean mosquito populations will likely spread, Chan added.

During previous outbreaks, the virus — which was first discovered in a monkey in Uganda in 1947 — “occasionally caused a mild disease of low concern,” Chan said.

But “the situation today is dramatically different,” she said, highlighting the growing concern that Zika has links to a birth defect known as microcephaly, or abnormal smallness of the skull and brain.

“A causal relationship between Zika virus infection and birth malformations and neurological syndromes has not yet been established, but is strongly suspected,” Chan said.

Since September, Brazil has registered nearly 4,000 cases of babies with microcephaly.

The Emergency Committee meeting will seek “advice on the appropriate level of international concern and for recommended measures that should be undertaken in affected countries and elsewhere.”

WHO last declared an international emergency over the devastating 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which claimed the lives of more than 11,000 people.

Meanwhile, a leading Obama administration health official said he doubts the US is vulnerable to the widespread outbreak.

Dr. Anthony Fauci said Thursday on “CBS This Morning” that the virus hopefully can be kept at bay with “mosquito vector control.”

Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said officials do not believe there are major ways of spreading the virus “other than by mosquito bites.”

President Obama hosted a meeting of federal health specialists on the issue earlier this week.

Lawrence Gostin, a public health law expert from Georgetown University, warned that Zika has has an “explosive pandemic potential.”

Speaking to BBC’s World Service, he said: “With the Rio Olympics on our doorstep I can certainly see this having a pandemic potential,” The Guardian reported.

Every review of the WHO’s response to the Ebola outbreak found that it was “too little, too late,” he said.

“I’m disappointed that the WHO has not been acting proactively. They have not issued any advice about travel, about surveillance, about mosquito control,” he said minutes before Chan’s announcement.

“The very first thing I would propose is a global mosquito eradication effort, particularly in areas with ongoing Zika transmission. We really need to declare war on this species of mosquito,” he added.
 
http://nypost.com/2016/01/28/zika-virus-is-here-in-new-york/

Zika virus is here in New York
By Bob Fredericks
January 28, 2016 | 2:41am

A fifth person from New York was confirmed to have contracted the Zika virus while traveling south of the border — and experts warned Wednesday that the disease could spike here and across the United States as mosquito season arrives this spring.

Health officials, citing federal privacy laws, released scant information about the New York cases, which include two from the Big Apple and one each from Nassau, Orange and Monroe counties.

The Nassau resident had traveled to an unidentified country where the virus is spreading, developed mild symptoms in August and completely recovered, officials said.

The Orange resident had visited South America and later tested positive for the virus, county health officials said, without providing details of the severity of the case.

None of the victims was pregnant. Babies of women infected during pregnancy with the virus can be born with microcephaly, a serious birth defect that can result in a smaller brain and skull than normal.

Zika — which has soared in many Caribbean, Latin and South American countries — is carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which has yet to be found in the US.

But officials fear that its cousin, the aggressive Asian tiger mosquito, which is common in the New York metro area, could rapidly spread the disease after biting people in the US who contracted it by traveling and then biting others.

“The mosquito causing the epidemic is not found in New York City, but a close relative [the Asian tiger] is found here, and two studies show that the New York City relative can transmit this virus,” said Dr. Jay Varma, the deputy commissioner for disease control for the city’s Health Department, which is ramping up efforts to educate the public.

Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institute of Health, wrote on his blog that the disease could eventually spread to most of the US, citing a study published in the British medical journal The Lancet.

“The study suggests that Zika virus could eventually reach regions of the United States in which 60 percent of our population lives,” including the East Coast, the South and West Coast, he wrote.

While officials believe the disease is overwhelmingly spread by mosquito bites, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there had been one report of possible spread through a blood transfusion and another through sex.

Varma said the only New Yorkers currently at risk are those traveling to countries where the disease is already prevalent.

“Make sure you protect yourself against mosquitoes,” he said. “Make sure you wear mosquito repellent. And if you’re a pregnant woman, you should go skiing instead of to the beach.”

The city, he added, is spreading the word on its Web site and through literature in multiple languages, as well as through outreach to community groups and doctors and health clinics.
 
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2016/01/28/who-mosquito-borne-zika-virus-spreading-explosively/

WHO: Mosquito-Borne Zika Virus ‘Spreading Explosively’
January 28, 2016 5:25 PM
By Stephanie Stahl

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The mosquito carrying Zika virus is now “spreading explosively,” according to the World Health Organization. 3-4 million infections, that can cause birth defects, are predicted in the next year.

The health departments in Pennsylvania and Delaware say they are no confirmed cases of the Zika virus.

In New Jersey, there was one travel related case last year, and that person, who’s from Colombia, recovered and returned to South America.

That’s where the biggest threat is right now. As crews in Brazil spray insecticide to kill the mosquitos that carry the Zika virus, the World Health Organization announced it will hold an emergency meeting Monday to decide if the virus should be declared an international health emergency.

Officials suspect the virus is responsible for a spike in the number of babies born with abnormally small heads in Brazil.

“The increased incidence of microcephaly is particularly alarming,” Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General, said.

The UN health agency estimates 3-4 million cases of Zika infection are possible in the Americas over the next year.

CDC officials say the disease is now in more than 20 countries, mostly in Central and South America.

But U.S. health officials say as with other mosquito-borne illnesses, they expect the number of cases here to remain small.

“We do not believe there will be a major outbreak of Zika in the United States,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy & Infections Disease, said.

With almost all of the cases among people who traveled abroad, health officials urge pregnant women not to travel to the affected regions.

Dr. Owen Montgomery, an obstetrician at Hahnemman University Hospital, agrees.

“I think right now that pregnant women and women who are trying to become pregnant should heed the cautions from the CDC and soon from the WHO about travel to areas in which the Zika virus has been found,” Dr. Montgomery explained.

He wants patients to remain calm. :rolleyes:

“Anything which has a potential life threatening effect on our unborn babies is a major concern and we need to take it seriously. But I don’t think it’s time to panic.” :rolleyes:
 
http://nypost.com/2016/02/02/first-instance-of-zika-transmission-in-us-reported-in-texas/

First instance of Zika transmission in US reported in Texas
By Reuters
February 2, 2016 | 3:19pm

AUSTIN, Texas — The first US case of the Zika virus has been contracted in Dallas County, local health officials said Tuesday, adding there are no reports of the virus being locally transmitted by mosquitoes in the Texas county.

Dallas County Health and Human Services said the case in Dallas was acquired through sexual transmission, adding that it received confirmation of the infection from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The county did not identify the person infected. The CDC said it did not investigate how the virus was transmitted.

There have been six confirmed travel-related cases of Zika virus, all among residents of Harris County, where Houston is located, the Texas Department of State Health Services said.

In medical literature, there has been only one case of Zika transmitted sexually and one case in which the virus was detected in semen.
 
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2016/02/09/zika-virus-delaware-pennsylvania/

Zika Virus Cases Confirmed Locally
February 9, 2016 5:05 PM

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Eyewitness News has just learned a woman in Delaware has the Zika virus.

The Delaware Division of Public Health is expected to provide more information at a press conference tomorrow afternoon.

The mosquito-borne illness is generally mild, but can cause birth defects when it infects pregnant women.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health is waiting for the results of 14 people tested for the virus.

Eyewitness News has also learned the first positive cases of Zika virus have been confirmed in two Pennsylvanians who traveled to affected countries.
 
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2016/04/15/camden-county-woman-tests-positive-for-zika-virus/

Camden County Woman Tests Positive For Zika Virus
April 15, 2016 4:53 PM By Dan Wing

CAMDEN COUNTY, N.J. (CBS) – The New Jersey Department of Health and Human Services says a Camden County woman has tested positive for the Zika virus.

The Camden County Health Department says they received notification from the state that the woman, who has not been identified, has tested positive for the mosquito-born virus.

She was not pregnant, but had visited a doctor’s office on April 2nd for symptoms of fever, rash, fatigue, and joint pain. She had recently returned from a trip to a country where the virus is more common.

County Health Officials say symptoms of the Zika virus usually develop between two and seven days after a person has been bitten by an infected mosquito.

They add that anyone who has plans to travel to an area where the virus is found should be “extra vigilant” about protecting themselves from mosquito bites.
 
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...ka-spikes-new-counting-method--380261681.html

Pregnant Women in US With Zika Spikes on New Counting Method
157 pregnant women in 50 states and 122 in U.S. territories have Zika, CDC said
By Mike Stobbe
Published at 11:37 AM EDT on May 20, 2016

The number of pregnant women in the United States infected with Zika virus is suddenly tripling, due to a change in how the government is reporting cases.

Previously, officials had reported how many pregnant women had both Zika symptoms and positive blood tests. In a change announced Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's count will include all women who tested positive, regardless of symptoms.

There are now 157 pregnant women infected with Zika in the 50 states, up from the 48 reported last week under the old definition. The agency also presented new numbers for pregnant women the territories of Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It rose to 122 cases from 65.

Experts emphasized that there does not appear to be any dramatic actual increase of pregnant women with the disease in recent months. There was a spike in diagnoses in February and March, but relatively few new cases since then, according to CDC data that includes women who experienced symptoms and those who didn't.

The Zika virus causes only a mild and brief illness, at worst, in most people. But in the last year, infections in pregnant women have been strongly linked to fetal deaths and to potentially devastating birth defects, mostly in Brazil.

The virus is spread mainly through the bite of a tropical mosquito called Aedes aegypti. It can be found in the southern United States, but there's no evidence that they've been spreading the virus in the U.S. yet. All the 544 total cases in the 50 states so far have been people who had traveled to outbreak areas, or who had sex with someone who did.

Experts think mosquitoes on the U.S. mainland will probably start spreading the virus in the months ahead, when hot weather hits and mosquito populations boom.

The sudden rise in the count of pregnant women with the disease in the U.S. may seem jarring. But Dr. Neil Silverman, a UCLA professor of obstetrics who has been advising the California Department of Public Health on Zika issues, explained the change in method does not indicate a greater risk of infection.

When he gets calls from patients, he said, "About 90 percent of what we're doing is reassuring and calming people."

Only an estimated 1 in 5 people infected with Zika develop symptoms — fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes — which usually last no more than a week.

Initially, doctors recognized the connection between the virus and birth defects only in women who had suffered symptoms during pregnancy. But reports published this year indicate some pregnant women with laboratory evidence of a recent Zika infection — but who never had symptoms — have delivered infants with these defects.

International health agencies have already been reporting Zika infections in women based solely on lab tests. Some experts have found it surprising that the CDC has been basing its official number on a more conservative case definition.

However, CDC officials had voiced concerns that one kind of blood test is too prone to giving a false positive test result if a woman was infected with a different but similar tropical virus.

CDC officials on Friday said it's possible the new count may include a few false positives, but they say the new count will offer a more complete picture of the effects of Zika in the U.S. states and territories.

CDC says doctors should consider testing pregnant women who have been to an area where Zika is spreading, whether or not they have symptoms. Doctors also are encouraged to ask pregnant women if their sex partner has been infected or traveled to an outbreak area.

The new counting "will give us a better idea of the correlation between a mom's symptoms and the effects on the baby," said Dr. Richard Beigi, an obstetrics expert at the University of Pittsburgh.

The CDC did not say how many Zika-infected pregnant women were believed to have been infected during travel and how many got it through sex. Officials said the count has includes diagnoses made over several months, and while many of the women in the count still are pregnant, some of the pregnancies have ended since the women were first diagnosed. The agency did not detail the outcomes of the pregnancies.

Also on Friday, President Barack Obama was briefed by top federal health officials about Zika. Administration officials have asked Congress for about $1.9 billion in emergency funding for vaccine development and other Zika work.

The Senate on Thursday approved its $1.1 billion plan to combat the Zika virus. The House on Wednesday approved only $622 million, meaning difficult negotiations remain over how much money to devote to fighting the virus and whether to cut funding allocated to study and combat the Ebola virus to help pay for it.

Obama repeated his call for the full requested amount.

"Bottom line is Congress needs to get me a bill. It needs to get me a bill that has sufficient funds to do the job," he said.
 
http://nypost.com/2016/05/22/zika-virus-infects-dozens-of-pregnant-women-in-nyc/

Zika virus infects slew of pregnant women in NYC
By Susan Edelman
May 22, 2016 | 6:57am

The Zika virus has struck 86 New York City residents — including 14 pregnant women, according to the latest city Health Department tally.

All the patients recovered, officials said, but it’s unknown whether the babies will suffer severe birth defects such as underdeveloped brains.

“We closely monitor pregnant women through the duration of their pregnancy,” said spokeswoman Carolina Rodriquez. She would not say if any women had given birth.

The city’s count comes as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that it is monitoring 279 pregnant women with likely Zika virus infections in US states and territories.

So far, every NYC victim contracted the mosquito-borne virus after visiting other Zika-plagued countries, mostly in Central and South America.

The 86 NYC cases are among 152 reported statewide to date. The total includes 50 males and 102 females, 23 of them pregnant.

“The Zika virus is a disease of significant public health concern, with the greatest concern being the risk to the exposed fetus,” a state Health Department spokesperson said Friday.

The state has been notified of four births by women who tested positive for Zika, but none resulted in microcephaly, the brain defect, said spokesman Jeffrey Hammond.
 
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...New-Jersey-Hospital-Hackensack-381447101.html

Mom With Zika Gives Birth to Baby With Microcephaly at NJ Hospital: Officials
Published 31 minutes ago

A woman diagnosed with the Zika virus gave birth to a baby with microcephaly at a New Jersey hospital, officials say.

The mother, who was visiting the U.S., contracted the disease internationally, officials at Hackensack University Medical Center say.

The hospital would not release any further details, saying only in a statement that the mother was receiving "exceptional care" and "we would appreciate everyone respecting the mother's privacy."

The Zika virus causes only a mild and brief illness, at worst, in most people. But in the last year, infections in pregnant women have been strongly linked to fetal deaths and to potentially devastating birth defects, mostly in Brazil.

U.S. health officials said in April there is no longer any doubt the Zika virus causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads and other severe brain defects.

Newborns with microcephaly often act just like other newborns, perhaps a bit fussier, NBC News reported. But the disabilities will appear as the growing children miss important milestones. They'll have learning deficiencies, vision problems and hearing problems, and many will also have physical disabilities.

There is no cure.
 
http://nypost.com/2016/06/02/zika-babys-mom-speaks/

Zika baby’s mom speaks
By Fox News
June 2, 2016 | 9:38am

zika_baby.jpg


A young Honduran woman who on Tuesday delivered what is believed to be the first baby in the continental US to be born with a Zika virus-related brain condition recalled in an exclusive interview how her initial symptoms were underestimated by doctors in her homeland.

It was December when a rash appeared on the 31-year-old woman, whose name is being withheld. :mad: She was feverish, too.

Worried about her pregnancy, she went to see her doctor in the Central American nation.

“I told my gynecologist that I had an allergic episode,” she told Fox News from her hospital bed at Hackensack University Medical Center.

“He asked if I had a fever,” the woman said in Spanish. “I said I had had a little fever — but it was very brief, only for about an hour.”

The doctor asked if she had exhibited other symptoms, such as pain or redness in her eyes, which people who have the Zika virus often complain about to health workers. Zika has been linked to microcephaly, in which a baby’s head is smaller than expected because the brain hasn’t developed properly.

“I said no,” the woman told Fox News. “He said, ‘Don’t worry, everything will be fine. I don’t think you will be affected.’ Then I had an ultrasound, and everything looked fine.”

The mother was diagnosed with Zika in Honduras, where the virus is active. She traveled to New Jersey, where she has family, to seek treatment, said Dr. Abdulla Al-Khan, the hospital’s director of maternal-fetal medicine and surgery, according to the Associated Press.

On Friday, the woman was admitted to Hackensack UMC, where she gave birth to a pin-headed baby girl who was delivered by Caesarean section yesterday.

Al-Khan confirmed to the AP that the mother had a normal ultrasound early in her pregnancy and that another one last week showed birth defects, including microcephaly.

Asked how she might have contracted the virus, the woman told Fox News that she wasn’t sure.

“I think it was because of a mosquito, but I really don’t know,” she said.

What would she advise other women?

“It’s a reality we’re living,” she said. “Sometimes we can underestimate things, but when it’s your turn to be in that situation, that’s the hard part.”

Al-Khan said the prognosis for babies born with microcephaly, which also can signal underlying brain damage, is “generally very poor.”

He added, “It was very sad for us to see a baby born with such a condition.”

The mother is “hanging in there,” Al-Khan said. “But, of course, what human being isn’t going to be devastated by this news?”

The Zika virus causes only a mild and brief flu-like illness in most people, but a pregnant woman can transfer the virus to her fetus. In April, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there was enough evidence to declare that Zika causes microcephaly and other brain defects.

Ten countries have reported cases of microcephaly linked to Zika, which is spread primarily through mosquito bites but can also be transmitted through sex.
 
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...cted-with-Zika-in-Lab-Accident-382467031.html

Pittsburgh Researcher Infected With Zika in Lab Accident
The scientist accidentally stuck herself with a needle last month during a Zika experiment
By Mike Stobbe
Published at 9:06 AM EDT on Jun 10, 2016

The University of Pittsburgh says one of its researchers became infected with the Zika virus in a lab accident.

The scientist accidentally stuck herself with a needle last month during a Zika experiment. She developed Zika symptoms last week and lab tests confirmed the infection.

Pitt officials on Thursday said the researcher has recovered and returned to work.

The virus is spread mainly through the bite of a tropical mosquito. It causes only a mild and brief illness, at worst, in most people. But it can cause fetal deaths and severe birth defects in the children of women infected during pregnancy.

Nearly 700 infections have been reported in the 50 states. All were people who had travelled abroad, or who had sex with someone who did.
 
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2016/07/07/bucks-county-confirms-first-case-of-zika-virus/

Bucks County Confirms First Case Of Zika Virus
July 7, 2016 4:26 PM

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (CBS) — The Bucks County Department of Health learned that the county has its first confirmed case of Zika virus. The news was announced on Thursday.

Bucks County Health Director Dr. David Damsker said that the case exists in a resident of the county who traveled to the Caribbean. It is not known how long the person stayed before returning to Bucks County.

He announced that the person has fully recovered.

“This positive case does not elevate the risk of contracting Zika for any of the residents of Bucks County,” Dr. Damsker announced on Thursday. “There is no risk of local transmission as a result of this one individual.”
 
http://nypost.com/2016/07/22/first-baby-born-with-zika-related-birth-defect-in-nyc/

First baby born with Zika-related birth defect in NYC
By Danika Fears
July 22, 2016 | 12:28pm

A Big Apple baby was born with Zika-related microcephaly — the first in New York City, the Health Department said in a statement.

The infant’s mom contracted the disease while traveling in a Zika-infected area. The baby was born with a smaller than normal head and other brain problems, the Health Department said.

“Today, I am the bearer of sad news: we have confirmed New York City’s first baby born with microcephaly associated with the Zika virus,” said Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Dr. Herminia Palacio.

“The City has been preparing for this scenario for many months now, and we stand ready to help families caring for an infant with microcephaly. This case is a sad reminder that Zika can have tragic consequences for pregnant women.”
 
http://nypost.com/2016/08/16/almost-500-new-yorkers-have-tested-positive-for-zika-virus/

Almost 500 New Yorkers have tested positive for Zika virus
By Yoav Gonen
August 16, 2016 | 11:43pm

Nearly 500 New Yorkers — including 49 pregnant women — have tested positive for the Zika virus, a more than tenfold increase since April, city officials said Tuesday.

Five of the 483 victims contracted the virus through sex.

The others are believed to have been infected from mosquito bites while traveling outside the United States — a majority in the Dominican Republic.

While no transmissions have been reported via local mosquitoes, Mayor de Blasio and other officials urged Congress to pass a stalled health package to provide resources to combat the virus before it becomes a full-bore crisis.

“We need the federal government to act now and pass the authorization of $1.9 billion in funding,” de Blasio said at the city’s public health lab in Kips Bay. “Without federal dollars, we cannot deepen our work and we won’t have the assurance that other *jurisdictions are doing all they can do to fight Zika.”

The majority of the cases have been found in women — 340 compared to 143 men — and one infant was born with a birth defect that results in a smaller head, known as microcephaly.

“A public health crisis that begins with neglect by the public sector . . . becomes much more difficult to address going forward,” said state Assemblyman Brian *Kavanagh (D-Manhattan), who joined the mayor in advocating for federal funds.

“We know that even now, no matter what we do, it’s going to increase and get worse in the United Stated before it gets better.”

In April, the city announced plans to invest $21 million over three years to conduct research and testing of Zika, and to monitor and reduce the local mosquito population.

De Blasio said the city has already targeted mosquitoes for pesticide spraying — despite the lack of cases of local transmission — as a preventive measure.

City Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett said Zika isn’t a major issue for most people.

“Eighty percent of them, they don’t even know they’ve been infected — 80 percent of Zika infections are asymptomatic,” she said.

“For other people — for nonpregnant women — it’s self-limited, unpleasant, but full recovery is expected. People get fever, headache, joint pains, a rash, red eyes, and then it goes away in a couple of days,” she added.

“But the problem is that it’s transmitted from the mother to her baby, and that is the true victim of Zika — the developing baby. And that’s why we are so focused on protecting pregnant women.”
 
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...-Announcing-Preventative-Steps-390601851.html

Four Confirmed Cases of Zika Virus in Montgomery County, Officials Say in Announcing Preventative Steps
By Brian X. McCrone
Published 2 hours ago

Four people in Montgomery County have been confirmed infected with the Zika virus, the county said at the monthly Board of Commissioners meeting Thursday.

All of the cases have been deemed "travel related," meaning the patients were infected while traveling outside of Montgomery County, officials said. In Pennsylvania, 74 cases of the Zika virus has been confirmed as of Monday, the Department of Health said.

The county said it is providing free Zika Prevention Kits to residents and health inspectors will investigate any reports of standing water on private property.

The public can call and report standing water that appears unattended on vacant land or in front or backyards of residences. If inspectors find standing water that needs to be addressed, the county will give property owners five days to take care of the issue.

County spokeswoman Lorie Slass said she did not immediately have total inspections of standing water this year, but added that she was not aware of any property owners who did not address the issue within the time allotted by the county after an initial warning.

For more information about Zika, go to the Montgomery County Department of Health website.
 
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2016/08/22/pennsylvania-in-top-5-states-with-most-zika-cases/

Pennsylvania In Top 5 States With Most Zika Cases
August 22, 2016 2:38 PM

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Pennsylvania now ranks fifth in the states with the most reported cases of the Zika virus.

And New Jersey isn’t far behind.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 69 travel-related cases have been reported in Pennsylvania and 66 in New Jersey as of August 17.

Spic-infested Florida and New York top the list with 405 and 579 travel-related cases. The CDC reports Florida is the only state to report a number of locally-acquired cases.

Spic-infested California and Texas are reporting 137 and 108 cases.

Delaware is on the opposite end of the spectrum with just 10 reported cases.
 
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2016/09/08/pa-case-sexually-transmitted-zika/

Pennsylvania Reports First Case Of Sexually Transmitted Zika Virus
September 8, 2016 6:13 PM By Ray Boyd

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Health officials have announced the first case of sexually transmitted Zika Virus for the state of Pennsylvania. The announcement was made on Thursday afternoon.

The Department of Health announced that Pennsylvania reported the state’s first case of the virus by sexual transmission.

Health officials say a Pennsylvania woman contracted the virus from a mosquito while she was traveling outside of the state in an area where Zika transmission is taking place. They say the woman returned to the state and passed on the virus to her partner.

“In light of this, we remind residents to practice safe sex, especially if they have traveled to an area with Zika-infected mosquitoes,” said Secretary Karen Murphy. She added that condoms, or other barrier protection, should be used during sex for eight weeks after returning from an area where Zika transmission is occurring.

Pennsylvania In Top 5 States With Most Zika Cases

Officials say no cases in Pennsylvania have occurred because of local mosquito transmission.
 
http://nypost.com/2016/12/07/four-more-babies-born-with-zika-in-new-york/

Four more babies born with Zika in New York
By Michael Gartland
December 7, 2016 | 1:05pm

Four more babies with a congenital form of the Zika virus have been born in the city since July, the city Health Department announced Wednesday.

That brings the total born in the city with Zika virus syndrome to five.

The city has identified 13 infants who have the syndrome, which can lead to brain and eye abnormalities as well as hardened and shortened muscles and tendons.

Since January, 200 babies have been born to women with the virus in the Big Apple, 8,000 New Yorkers have been tested for it and 962 came up positive.

Of those, 325 were pregnant women.

Many who contract the virus don’t exhibit symptoms.

“Zika continues to be a threat to pregnant women and their babies,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett. “We urge all pregnant women in New York City, those who might become pregnant, and their male sexual partners not to visit places where there is active Zika virus transmission.”

Zika is most commonly spread through mosquito bites and sex.

Areas where it continues to be a threat include the Caribbean, Mexico, South America and Miami.
 
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