Zika Confirmed Lewiston NY ex-Caribbean NOT

[niman]

My friend is Shoshanna Cogan of Lewiston. She’s a leadership facilitator and trainer who travels the world giving seminars. More than three months ago she was doing some volunteer work on a Caribbean island and spending a few weeks in a Spanish immersion program. Her husband, Shannon Hodges, a professor at Niagara University, had visited her there for a few days of vacation and the two got a chance to enjoy each other’s company in the sunshine.

 

Shannon recalls getting a few mosquito bites on the island, but Shoshanna didn’t see a mosquito the whole time she was there. 

When Shannon got home a few weeks before his wife, he was very sick. He had a rash, fever, movement was painful and he was exhausted. Shoshanna, still on the island, was feeling the same symptoms but also had a case of conjuntivitis, or pink eye. She recognized the symptoms and suspected Zika immediately. She convinced Shannon to go to the doctor, but the resulting blood test ordered for him, did not check for the virus. As soon as Shoshanna arrived back at her Lewiston home, she began her attempts to be tested for the virus. Her efforts included many hours on the phone as she waded through a maze of health care personnel who were confused about how to help her or didn’t know what to do next. Finally, after several weeks and two blood tests, her suspicions were confirmed. She had Zika. She sent me copies of the test results more than a week ago.

Long story short, on Wednesday, after many requests to the state health department which oversees such things — requests that included the facts of Shoshanna’s positive tests — I was finally able to get official confirmation from the state that there was a case of Zika reported in Niagara County. The state Health Department spokesperson is still working to confirm for me where the positive result came from. I’m going to presume that it came from Shoshanna.

http://www.niagara-gazette.com/opinion/columns/deluca-state-confirms-niagara-zika-case/article_16450193-4332-54a0-9ba1-bc3c5545536f.html

 

Edited April 23, 2016 by niman

[niman]

DELUCA: State confirms Niagara Zika case

• Michele DeLuca Commentary
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• 14 hrs ago
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Michele DeLuca

 

 

 

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A new friend of mine may be the first person to test positive for the Zika virus in Niagara County.

The good news is that she’s the only case confirmed here. Better news is that she didn’t get infected here. But the concerning news is the length of time it took for her to get proof she had the virus, given that in February the Zika virus was declared a “world health emergency,” by the World Health Agency.  

My friend is Shoshanna Cogan of Lewiston. She’s a leadership facilitator and trainer who travels the world giving seminars. More than three months ago she was doing some volunteer work on a Caribbean island and spending a few weeks in a Spanish immersion program. Her husband, Shannon Hodges, a professor at Niagara University, had visited her there for a few days of vacation and the two got a chance to enjoy each other’s company in the sunshine.

 

Shannon recalls getting a few mosquito bites on the island, but Shoshanna didn’t see a mosquito the whole time she was there. 

When Shannon got home a few weeks before his wife, he was very sick. He had a rash, fever, movement was painful and he was exhausted. Shoshanna, still on the island, was feeling the same symptoms but also had a case of conjuntivitis, or pink eye. She recognized the symptoms and suspected Zika immediately. She convinced Shannon to go to the doctor, but the resulting blood test ordered for him, did not check for the virus. As soon as Shoshanna arrived back at her Lewiston home, she began her attempts to be tested for the virus. Her efforts included many hours on the phone as she waded through a maze of health care personnel who were confused about how to help her or didn’t know what to do next. Finally, after several weeks and two blood tests, her suspicions were confirmed. She had Zika. She sent me copies of the test results more than a week ago.

Long story short, on Wednesday, after many requests to the state health department which oversees such things — requests that included the facts of Shoshanna’s positive tests — I was finally able to get official confirmation from the state that there was a case of Zika reported in Niagara County. The state Health Department spokesperson is still working to confirm for me where the positive result came from. I’m going to presume that it came from Shoshanna.

Although Shoshanna and Shannon no longer have symptoms, and as such are not contagious, there are now 73 confirmed cases of Zika in New York state, almost half of which come from areas just outside New York City. According to recent Associated Press reports, there are 672 confirmed cases in U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico and the United States, including 64 pregnant women. It’s estimated that 40 million people will travel between the U.S. and countries with Zika outbreaks. 

A month ago Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a plan to combat the virus in the state. Early in April, President Barack Obama announced that $589 million left over from a largely successful fight against Ebola will now go to combating the growing threat of Zika in the U.S.  

Zika, discovered in 1947 in Uganda, has recently started to spread through the globe due to movement of the mosquito which transmits the disease and the humans which can act as carriers while the virus is active. The disease can be transmitted during the infectious stage through sexual activity or if a mosquito bites someone who is infected and then bites another person. 

The scariest thing about the virus is that it can cause serious birth defects in the developing brain of a fetus, if its mother gets infected while pregnant. So pregnant women are being advised not to travel to countries where the virus is rampant, such as Brazil, the current epicenter of the virus. It is suggested they use copious amounts of mosquito repellant with DEET. There is also research that links the virus to Guillain Barre syndrome in those infected with the virus.

Clearly, there is reason to be careful. Moving forward, I hope health and government officials are more expedient about sharing information. But as a leadership expert, trainer and coach, Shoshanna is choosing to stay positive about her experience.

Her lessons, she wrote recently, and are to stay focused on what she can control and influence, such as enjoying life and doing all she can to stay healthy mentally, physically and spiritually.

“At any given moment, we can consider our range of options and make the best choices we can,” she said. “Everyone loses in the shame-and-blame game.”

 

 

Contact Michele DeLuca at 282-2311, ext. 2263 or email her at[email protected].

What is the Zika virus?

Zika virus disease is a disease spread primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito. The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week after being bitten by an infected mosquito. People rarely die of Zika. For this reason, many people might not realize they have been infected. Once a person has been infected, he or she is likely to be protected from future infections. The disease, which can be transferred through body fluids, can be spread from a pregnant woman to her fetus and has been linked to a serious birth defect of the brain called microcephaly in babies of mothers who had Zika virus while pregnant. 

Zika virus was first discovered in 1947 and is named after the Zika forest in Uganda. In 1952, the first human cases of Zika were detected and since then, outbreaks of Zika have been reported in tropical Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands. Because the symptoms of Zika are similar to those of many other diseases, many cases may not have been recognized.

In May 2015, the Pan American Health Organization issued an alert regarding the first confirmed Zika virus infection in Brazil and on Feb 1, 2016, the World Health Organization declared Zika virus a public health emergency of international concern. 

— Center for Disease Control

[niman]

Map Update

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&hl=en&authuser=0&authuser=0&mid=zv94AJqgUct4.kT4qLMXp3SLU

 

[niman]

Zika in Niagara: 1 case ruled out, 1 confirmed

NIAGARA COUNTY: One case was ruled out Friday, while another came to light.

• By Mark Scheer [email protected]
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• Updated 35 min ago
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A Niagara County woman who was told by her doctor she had tested positive for the Zika Virus said she received results from a third round of testing on Friday that show she does not have the virus after all.

Shoshanna Cogan, a Lewiston resident who serves as a leadership facilitator and trainer, confirmed the results from the latest round of testing on Friday. She said that both her personal physician’s office and officials from the Niagara County health department reviewed the results and conclusively determined that she does not have Zika.

“I’m not Zika positive,” Cogan said.

 

In a column by Michele Deluca that was published in the Thursday edition of the Niagara Gazette, Cogan said she developed symptoms of illness, including a rash, swollen ankles and conjunctivitis, during a volunteer trip to a Caribbean island three months ago. Cogan underwent testing when she returned to the United States and was initially told by her physician’s office that she appeared to have the virus based on results from her first two rounds of testing.

Cogan’s husband, Shannon Hodges, a professor of clinical mental health counseling at Niagara University, joined his wife for part of the trip to the Caribbean Island. Cogan said Friday that he had a rash, joint pain and a couple of days exhaustion before he returned to the United States. Cogan said her husband also has not tested positive for the virus.

“He was not diagnosed with Zika,” she said. “Neither one of us have the Zika virus.”

Cogan indicated Friday that at no point in the process did the Niagara County health department confirm that she had Zika. She said health officials described the results of the first two rounds of tests as “not conclusive” before recommending the third and final test.

Based on her initial symptoms and in light of the reading of the first two test results by her physician’s office, Cogan said she believed she had the virus. She was pleased to learn otherwise on Friday.

Cogan’s latest round of test results came the same day the county health department announced that it had received confirmation of a case of Zika in the county as a result of testing by the New York State Department of Health.

Public Health Director Daniel Stapleton said he was unable to discuss specifics as they relate to the confirmed case.

“This individual did not acquire the virus in the United States,” he said in a statement released to the media Friday afternoon. “The public is not at any risk. The patient’s symptoms have resolved on their own.”

On Friday, the Associated Press reported that Zika had been considered a nuisance virus until a massive outbreak began last year in Brazil, where doctors reported babies being born with unusually small heads, a condition called microcephaly. Last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Zika was indeed the culprit — and that it caused a particularly severe form of microcephaly, with serious underlying brain damage, as well as other brain-related abnormalities. The World Health Organization has now deemed Zika an “international emergency.”

 

Stapleton said there are important criteria to consider whenever assessing a potential Zika case. He said part of the assessment process involves determining whether the individual’s symptoms fit those related to the virus and whether the individual traveled to a country where the virus has been prevalent.

Another aspect, he said, relates to confirmation of the presence of the virus through testing. Stapleton said where Zika is concerned, health officials conduct multiple anti-body tests over a time period that can last several weeks.

“It’s multiple tests,” Stapleton said.

So far, he said, a dozen individuals have been tested in Niagara County due to symptoms or concerns.

Stapleton stressed that the virus poses the most danger to women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant. He said Zika resolves itself in most individuals without treatment.

“The overwhelming majority won’t even know they have it,” Stapleton said.

http://www.lockportjournal.com/news/local_news/zika-in-niagara-case-ruled-out-confirmed/article_d5a48fa4-4f2a-5a86-8730-0929ee15fe1e.html