New Discovery Means More U.S. States Will Face A Risk From Zika
Source: Washington Post
By Nick Miroff April 29 at 10:37 AM
For the first time in the Western Hemisphere, researchers have detected the Zika virus in Aedes albopictus, the mosquito species known as the Asian tiger, a finding that increases the number of U.S. states potentially at risk for transmission of the disease.
During the summer months when U.S. mosquito populations are at their peak, albopictus are more ubiquitous than the Aedes aegypti that have been the primary vector of the spread of Zika elsewhere in the Americas. Unlike the aegypti mosquito, which is mostly present in southern United States and along the Gulf Coast, the albopictus has a range as far north as New England and the lower Great Lakes.
The discovery was reported recently by the Pan American Health Organization after researchers in Mexico confirmed the presence of Zika in Asian tiger mosquitoes captured in the state of San Luis Potosi and sent them to government labs for testing.
U.S. health officials say they had anticipated the finding and have already encouraged states within the range of the Asian tiger mosquitoes to prepare for Zika. Scientists had previously identified the Asian tiger as the primary vector for Zika during a 2007 outbreak in the West African country of Gabon.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/new-discovery-means-more-us-states-will-face-a-risk-from-zika/2016/04/29/497ffa98-0d59-11e6-bc53-db634ca94a2a_story.html
840high
(17,196 posts)fred v
(271 posts)The victim, a man in his 70s, died in February from internal bleeding as a result of a rare immune reaction to an earlier Zika infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Puerto Rico now has 683 confirmed Zika infections in its outbreak, which began in December; 89 are in pregnant women, according to Dr. Ana Ríus, the territorys health secretary. Fourteen of those women have given birth, and all their babies are healthy, she said.
Seventeen patients have been hospitalized for Zika-related causes in Puerto Rico. Of those, seven had Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare form of paralysis that strikes about two weeks after an infection and, although frightening, is usually temporary.
The man who died was a resident of the San Juan area who fell ill with fever, rash and other typical Zika symptoms early this year, said Tyler M. Sharp, a C.D.C. epidemiologist working in Puerto Rico.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/30/health/zika-virus-first-death-in-us-puerto-rico.html?_r=0
John Oliver was sadly prophetic.
fred v
(271 posts)bjo59
(1,166 posts)a professor told my biology class back in the 80s... he said he had some good news and some bad news, that the good news was that HIV would be eradicated (wrong there) and the bad news was that going into the future there would be an increasing onslaught of viruses that we would have no cure for and couldn't keep up with.
AngryAmish
(25,704 posts)woundedkarma
(498 posts)A bunch of bird species just die off.. then the fish species die off.. then a bunch more of both die off because the thing they ate for food died off.
I hate mosquitos. I live in MI and it has been horrible where I live. Those tiger ones hurt a lot more than the normal ones. My wife is pregnant and I'm scared.
But you can't do something crazy like that without destroying entire ecosystems.
We need a vaccine or prevention or some method to fight the disease.
AngryAmish
(25,704 posts)Won't that kill birds and fish?
The mosquitoes carrying Zika are an invasive species outside Africa.