RIO
DE JANEIRO — The latest on the fight against the Zika virus that
health officials suspect is linked to a wave of birth defects in Brazil.
(All times local):
4:30 p.m.
The
Arkansas Department of Health says a person who recently traveled out
of the United States has tested positive for the Zika virus.
The
department says that the person has a mild case of Zika, which is
spread by mosquitoes and is suspected of causing a spate of birth
defects in Brazil. Spokeswoman Meg Mirivel would not say whether Tuesday
if the infected person is a man or woman or give the person's age.
Mirivel
says the individual traveled to the Central America-Caribbean region,
though she would not specify which country. Some U.S. travelers have
been infected abroad with Zika but there are no cases of local infection
in the U.S. so far.
Brazilian
officials have linked the virus with a rare birth defect, and the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have urged pregnant women to
consider postponing flights to areas where the virus is prevalent.
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4:25 p.m.
Latin
America's largest airline says it's waiving cancellation or
flight-change fees for pregnant women who want to cancel flights to
countries where the Zika virus is present.
Grupo
LATAM says the policy applies to Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador,
Guatemala, French Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama,
Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Suriname and Venezuela.
The
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has urged pregnant
women to consider postponing visits to 22 destinations because of
concern that the mosquito-borne virus could be linked to a wave in
Brazil of microcephaly cases in which children are born with heads that
are smaller than normal and often have developmental problems.
The World Health Organization cautions that the link is not yet scientifically proven.
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4:00 p.m.
Colombian
officials are raising the number of suspected cases of the Zika virus
in their country. They say 16,490 people now apparently have had the
disease that's been linked to birth defects in Brazil. Of those 1,090
are pregnant women.
The
new figures come as health minister begins a nationwide effort to rally
local officials to battle the Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits the
virus.
Minister Alejandro Gaviria said Tuesday he hopes Colombia will become "an example for Latin America" in the battle against Zika.
President
Juan Manuel Santo has said Colombian officials expect to see 600,000
cases of Zika this year, and are preparing for the possibility of
infants born with microcephaly, a birth defect that has skyrocketed in
Brazil along with cases of Zika.
So far, there's only one case of microcephaly in Colombia suspected of being linked to Zika.
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3:00 p.m.
The U.S. territory of Puerto Rico is reporting a jump in the number of mosquito-borne Zika virus cases.
Health
Secretary Ana Rius says there are 18 confirmed new cases in addition to
one known earlier. None involve pregnant women. Brazilian officials
have linked the tropical illness to birth defects.
Puerto
Rico epidemiologist Brenda Rivera said Tuesday the majority of cases
are in the island's southeast region. She says many of the victims are
elderly.
Officials said they are testing more than 200 other potential Zika cases that have tested negative to dengue and chikungunya.
U.S.
officials say pregnant women should consider postponing trips to 22
destinations with Zika infections, including Puerto Rico.
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2:55 p.m.
U.S.
health officials are putting out advice to doctors on testing newborns
for Zika virus, a tropical infection linked to a wave of birth defects
in Brazil.
The
guidance is for doctors caring for infants born to mothers who traveled
to Zika outbreak areas in Latin America or the Caribbean during their
pregnancy. The advice covers which situations call for Zika testing and
when to do fetal ultrasounds.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the guidelines Tuesday.
Zika
is spread by mosquitoes, and in most people causes no more than mild
illness. But there's been mounting evidence linking Zika infection in
pregnant women to a birth defect in which a newborn's head is unusually
small and the brain may not develop properly.
2:40 p.m.
Argentina
authorities say they are investigating a possible case of infection by
the mosquito-borne Zika virus. It would be a first for the nation that
shares a border with Brazil.
Santa
Fe Health Department official Andrea Uboldi tells La Red radio that the
man is in the city of Rosario and had recently visited Brazil, where
hundreds of thousands of cases of Zika are suspected and authorities are
investigating a possible link to birth defects.
Meanwhile,
officials in the Argentine province of Corrientes have declared an
epidemiological alert due to an outbreak of dengue in the area. Dengue
and Zika are both transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
end quote from:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/01/26/world/americas/ap-zika-virus-the-latest.html
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