27 May, 2017
One involves a 64-year-old man who sought care for a febrile illness, and his positive blood sample was 1 of 93 tested in the middle of February at B.J. Medical College. According to the World Health Organization risk assessment, this report "describes the first cases of Zika virus infections and provides evidence on the circulation of the virus in India".
NY health officials are concerned about the many New Yorkers who have family in the Caribbean, Central America, and South America, where Zika is still the most prevalent.
The third case surfaced during Antenatal Clinic surveillance, in which 111 blood samples were taken at BJMC between January 6 and January 12.
Although WHO claims that Zika transmission in the country is now at low levels, it is believed that "new cases may occur in the future", as "risk of further spread of Zika virus to areas where the competent vectors, the Aedes mosquitoes, are present is significant". No microcephaly increases or clusters have been identified at sentinel sites. Experts said that fact could have explained the rare reports. Health officials are reminding New Yorkers to watch out for the Zika virus when booking their trips because hundreds of locals have contracted the virus while traveling.
Most regions in the Americas are reporting declining cases, but upticks-mainly localized pockets of infections-have been reported recently in Belize, the Turks and Caicos, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru.
But, while the monkey fetuses didn't show signs of abnormal brain development, the researchers discovered unusual inflammation in the eyes, retinas and optic nerves of those infected during the first trimester of pregnancy.
Kathleen Antony, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison said,"Our eyes are basically part of our central nervous system".
Most people who came to Florida previous year with a Zika virus infection did not transmit the virus to others, Cummings said.
Moreover, three of the foetuses involved had small heads, but not quite so small as children born with microcephaly.
The researchers found a correlation between Zika virus transmission and mosquito populations, showing that periods with high numbers of A. aegypti mosquitoes - which scientists have shown are capable of transmitting Zika virus and several related viruses - resulted in an increase in local transmission in humans. A team from the US Army Institute of Infectious Diseases reported its findings today in Emerging Infectious Diseases.
The similarities between the monkey pregnancies and reported complications in Zika-affected human pregnancies further establish Zika infection in monkeys as a way to study the progression of the infection and associated health problems in people, researchers said.