niman Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Media reports cite Three More Zika Confirmed Cases In Houston Areahttp://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/New-Zika-virus-cases-confirmed-in-Houston-area-6799061.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niman Posted February 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 3 more cases of Zika virus confirmed in Harris County; brings total cases to 7 in Houston area4th confirmed case of Zika virus in greater Houston area; 3rd in city of HoustonBy Click2Houston.com StaffPosted: 3:37 PM, February 01, 2016Updated: 4:06 PM, February 01, 2016116 Twitter 116HOUSTON - Three more cases of the Zika virus have been confirmed in Harris County, according to Health Department officials. These cases bring the total number of patients in Harris County who contracted the virus to four.Three other cases are confirmed in the city of Houston, bringing the total number of cases in the Houston metropolitan area to seven.More News HeadlinesWHO declares Zika virus international emergencyCDC confirms 6 cases of Zika virus in Texas3rd confirmed case of Zika virus in greater Houston area; 2nd in city of HoustonFive things you need to know about ZikaZika virus: Ways you can helpUnited, American offering refunds for travel to Zika areas22 destinations with Zika virus outbreaks on CDC travel warning listZika virus comes to Houston, health officials sayWHO leader says Zika virus is 'spreading explosively'Harris County Public Health & Environmental Services said Monday that the three new patients had all recently traveled to Latin America. All four of the patients in the county cases have since recovered. The latest city of Houston case is a female patient between 40 and 45 years old. She traveled to Honduras in December and returned to the Houston area. She recently started feeling ill.On Friday, health officials confirmed that a man traveled to Honduras in December and tested positive for the virus. The man was between 35 and 39 years old. His condition is not known."The only risk factor we have right now for Zika is foreign travel to where it is an epidemic,” said Kathy Barton, the spokesperson for the Houston Health Department. “For most of us, that is Central and South America. We don't have any local transmission going on here. Although at some point we could. But it's not happening yet.”KPRC 2 first told you back on Jan. 11 about a case of the virus in Harris County. In that case, a local traveler who recently returned from Latin America contracted the virus.The city said Thursday that a woman, between the ages of 55 and 60 years old, is recovering from the Zika virus.The head of the World Health Organization said Thursday that the Zika virus "is now spreading explosively.""The level of concern is high, as is the level of uncertainty," WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan told her organization's executive board members. "We need to get some answers, quickly."The mosquito-borne disease is now in "23 countries and territories in the region," according to Chan. While it's been around in some form for decades, alarms have been raised only recently about Zika's suspected connection with "birth malformations and neurological symptoms."Officials are discouraging travel to 22 infected areas, including Puerto Rico, for pregnant women and women off birth control, a warning which may last a couple years."This particular virus is transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected mosquito. So the mosquito bites an infected person and goes to its next meal and infects that person. We don't have active transmission going on here in Houston though. All the cases we have seen have been imported from Central and South America.” Barton added.Baylor College of Medicine Dean for the National School of Tropical Medicine, Dr. Peter Hotez said we are at a disadvantage because of the mosquitoes in Houston."It's one of the only places in the U.S. that has both kinds of mosquitoes that can transmit Zika virus and it's another reason why I think Houston and the Gulf Coast is uniquely vulnerable when talking about Zika coming into the country," Hotez said. He said by the end of February, he thinks most Caribbean countries are going to be affected.Harris County Health and Environmental Services said they're not on alert yet.During the colder months, they're not spraying and say they haven't seen many mosquitoes with any kind of disease, but discourage people from keeping stagnant water around homes.Hotez said it poses a bigger threat to areas in poverty."Why is that? Well, I think it's probably because when you live in poor quality housing, you'll see windows without screens on them or a lot of holes in the screens, they won't have air conditioning or they'll have box like air conditioning that the mosquitoes can get in and around," Hotez said.Texas Children's Hospital said they are monitoring patients even if they don't show symptoms.Symptoms can include: fever, headache, rash and joint pain. 80 percent of people feel no symptoms. It's transmitted when a mosquito bites an infected person and the mosquito carries it to another person. It is not transmitted from person to person.http://www.click2houston.com/news/4th-confirmed-case-of-zika-virus-in-greater-houston-area Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niman Posted February 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 (edited) 3 more cases of Zika virus confirmed in Harris County; brings total cases to 7 in Houston area4th confirmed case of Zika virus in greater Houston area; 3rd in city of HoustonBy Click2Houston.com StaffPosted: 3:37 PM, February 01, 2016Updated: 4:06 PM, February 01, 2016 A mere hours after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Zika virus an international emergency, health officials in Harris County have confirmed three new cases of the virus within the county.Each of the three new cases were found in positive tests of individuals who recently traveled to Latin America and exhibited Zika-like symptoms, including fever, rash and joint pain, according to Harris County Public Health & Environmental Services. All individuals have since recovered. The new cases bring the total of positive Zika instances to seven within Houston and Harris County.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed Houston's first case in January. A traveler returning from El Salvador in November fell ill with fever, rash and joint pain. The agency determined that she brought the illness into this country following a month of investigation and testing.WHO convened an emergency meeting of independent experts on Monday to assess the outbreak after noting a suspicious link between Zika's arrival in Brazil last year and a surge in the number of babies born with abnormally small heads.Although WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan said there was no definitive proof that the Zika virus, spread by mosquitoes, is responsible for the birth defects, she acknowledged on Thursday that "the level of alarm is extremely high."The last such public health emergency was declared for the devastating 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which killed more than 11,000 people.WHO estimates there could be up to 4 million cases of Zika in the Americas in the next year.The Associated Press contributed to this report.http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/New-Zika-virus-cases-confirmed-in-Houston-area-6799061.php Edited February 1, 2016 by niman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niman Posted February 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 Map updatehttps://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?hl=en&hl=en&authuser=0&authuser=0&mid=zv94AJqgUct4.kT4qLMXp3SLU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niman Posted February 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 Zika Virus – Feb. 2, 2016Texas has six confirmed travel-related cases of Zika virus disease, all among residents of Harris County. The travelers were infected abroad and diagnosed after they returned home. There has been no reported local transmission of the disease in the continental United States.Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that can cause fever, rash, muscle and joint aches and pinkeye. Symptoms are usually mild, and most people exposed to Zika virus won’t develop any symptoms at all. There have been reports of microcephaly and other poor pregnancy outcomes in babies of mothers who were infected with Zika virus while pregnant.The Texas Department of State Health Services is encouraging people to follow travel precautions for regions and certain countries where Zika virus transmission is ongoing.DSHS recommends travelers avoid mosquito bites while abroad and for seven days after returning, in case they have been exposed to Zika virus. People can protect themselves from mosquito bites by:Wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pantsUsing EPA-registered insect repellentsUsing permethrin-treated clothing and gear Staying and sleeping in screened-in or air-conditioned rooms. Note: Zika case data for Texas will be updated weekdays by 11 a.m.Texas Zika VirusCDC Zika Virushttps://www.dshs.state.tx.us/news/updates.shtm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niman Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Zika Virus – Feb. 3, 2016Texas has 10 cases of Zika virus disease. Nine are travelers who were infected abroad and diagnosed after they returned home. One case involves a Dallas County resident who had sexual contact with someone who acquired the Zika infection while traveling abroad. Case counts by county: Harris County – 7Bexar County – 1Dallas County – 2Zika is primarily a mosquito-borne virus that can cause fever, rash, muscle and joint aches and pinkeye. Symptoms are usually mild, and most people exposed to Zika virus won’t develop any symptoms at all. There have been reports of microcephaly and other poor pregnancy outcomes in babies of mothers who were infected with Zika virus while pregnant.The Texas Department of State Health Services is encouraging people to follow travel precautions for regions and certain countries where Zika virus transmission is ongoing.DSHS recommends travelers avoid mosquito bites while abroad and for seven days after returning, in case they have been exposed to Zika virus. People can protect themselves from mosquito bites by:Wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pantsUsing EPA-registered insect repellentsUsing permethrin-treated clothing and gear Staying and sleeping in screened-in or air-conditioned roomsAvoiding or limiting outdoor activities during peak mosquito timesNote: Zika case data for Texas will be updated weekdays by 11 a.m.Texas Zika VirusDSHS News ReleasesCDC Zika Virushttp://www.dshs.state.tx.us/news/updates.shtm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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