ZIKV Found in Australian Travelers Returning from S. America
Posted by feww on January 26, 2016
Submitted by a reader – Edited by FEWW
Australians authorities echo warning to travelers planing to visit 22 countries affected by ZIKV
Australian health experts report mosquito-borne Zika virus (ZIKV), linked to brain damage in thousands of babies in Brazil, has already been discovered in Australia in travelers returning from South America, said a report.
For the virus to spread, however, it would require specific species of mosquitoes to act as a vector. The Aedes aegypti mosquito, one such vector, is currently found only in far north Queensland.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has issued new advice warning Australians, particularly pregnant women, to reconsider plans to travel to 22 countries affected by the virus, including many in South and Central America, and the Pacific island nation Samoa.
[FIRE-EARTH Models show more than one million incidences of ZIKV infections may have occurred worldwide since October 2015. —Editor]
The new travel advice comes in response to a warning by the World Health Organisation that Zika virus is now likely to spread to all countries in South, Central and North America except Canada and Chile. [Blog Moderators have not found any evidence to confirm either PAHO or WHO has issued a warning to this effect. This appears to be media sensationalism at best, or a desperate ruse designed for phishing more information from independent sources. —Editor]
At least 3,893 suspected cases of microcephaly had occurred in Brazil as of January 22, 2016, or over 30 times more than in any year since 2010 and equivalent to 1 to 2 per cent of all newborns in the state of Pernambuco, one of the worst-hit areas, said WHO.
ZIKV was first detected in a monkey in Zika forest near Lake Victoria, Uganda, in 1947.
Microcephaly is a birth defect where a baby’s head is smaller than expected when compared to babies of the same sex and age. Babies with microcephaly often have smaller brains that might not have developed properly. Microcephaly is not a common condition. State birth defects tracking systems have estimated that microcephaly ranges from 2 babies per 10,000 live births to about 12 babies per 10,000 live births in the Unites States.
- Zika and pregnancy [CDC]
Countries that have past or current evidence of Zika virus transmission
AFRICA: Angola*, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt*, Ethiopia*, Gabon, Gambia*, Kenya*, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone*, Somalia*, Tanzania*, Uganda and Zambia*.
AMERICAS: Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Suriname and Venezuela.
OCEANIA/PACIFIC ISLANDS: Cook Islands, Easter Island, Federated States of Micronesia, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
ASIA: Cambodia, India*, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan*, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam*.
[*For these countries, the only evidence of Zika virus transmission is from studies that detected Zika virus antibodies in healthy people. These studies cannot determine where the people were infected or if they were infected with Zika virus because the antibodies may have resulted from infections with other closely related viruses, such as dengue virus.]
Related Links
Additional Links
ZIKV
- CDC Issues Travel Warning as Zika Virus Epidemic Continues to Spread January 16, 2016
- Zika Virus: Coming to a Place Near You… January 5, 2016
- Disasters/ Significant Events – Dec 25, 2015 Posted on December 25, 2015
- Most Dangerous Pathogens December 12, 2015
- ZIKV – Emerging Virus May Cause Severe Birth Defects December 4, 2015
DENGUE
- Latest Dengue Fever Outbreaks January 20, 2016
- Top Emerging Diseases Likely to Cause Major Epidemics December 12, 2015
- ZIKV – Emerging Virus May Cause Severe Birth Defects December 4, 2015
- Dengue Fever Kills 204 in Taiwan December 16, 2015
- State of Emergency Declared in East Java January 26, 2015
- Dengue Fever Outbreak Prompts State of Emergency in Brazil City January 21, 2013
- State of emergency in Marshall Islands as dengue outbreak spirals October 29, 2011
- Chikungunya Makes West Nile Look Like Nappy Rash September 19, 2009
Fire Earth 
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