niman Posted February 13, 2016 Report Share Posted February 13, 2016 The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) is reporting the state’s third and fourth cases of Zika virus in returning travelers – a 56-year-old Butler County woman returning from Guyana, and a 60- year-old Licking County man returning from Haiti. https://www.odh.ohio.gov/~/media/ODH/ASSETS/Files/news/Two New Ohio Zika Cases 2016.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niman Posted February 13, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2016 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 12, 2016 Contact: ODH Communications (614) 309-7188 Ohio Reports Two New Zika Virus Cases in Returning Travelers COLUMBUS — The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) is reporting the state’s third and fourth cases of Zika virus in returning travelers – a 56-year-old Butler County woman returning from Guyana, and a 60- year-old Licking County man returning from Haiti. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported 52 travel-associated cases of Zika virus in 16 states and the District of Columbia prior to Ohio’s new cases, an increase from 35 cases in 12 states since Tuesday. Zika virus is primarily transmitted through a mosquito bite, and there is no indication that it can spread from person to person through casual contact. CDC has confirmed a U.S. case of Zika virus infection in a non-traveler after the person’s sexual partner returned from an affected country and developed symptoms. Due to the possible association between Zika virus infections in pregnant women and certain birth defects, CDC recommends that pregnant women and women trying to get pregnant consider postponing travel to areas with Zika virus transmission. “Given the number of travelers between Ohio and Zika virus-affected countries, it would not be a surprise to see more cases,” said ODH Medical Director Dr. Mary DiOrio. “There is no vaccine available for Zika virus so it’s important for Ohioans traveling to affected areas to take steps to prevent mosquito bites.” Of people infected with the Zika virus, 80 percent do not have any symptoms. When symptoms occur, they are often mild, lasting from several days to a week, and include fever, rash, joint and muscle pain, conjunctivitis (red eyes), and headache. Severe disease requiring hospitalization is uncommon. Go to the ODH website at http://www.odh.ohio.gov/zika for more information about Zika virus and links to CDC resources including travel advisories for countries where Zika virus transmission is ongoing. ### Note to News Media --- ODH will not issue statewide news releases for future Zika virus cases in Ohio. Local health departments may choose to issue a local news release about new cases in their jurisdictions. ODH will maintain a tally of Ohio’s Zika virus cases on its website at http://www.odh.ohio.gov/zika Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niman Posted February 13, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2016 Map updatehttps://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=zv94AJqgUct4.kT4qLMXp3SLU&hl=en Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niman Posted February 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2016 Ohio running Zika totalshttps://www.odh.ohio.gov/odhprograms/bid/zdp/diseases/zika.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niman Posted February 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 Student with local ties had ZikaWork in Haiti clinics was part of Pataskala man's nursing training BUY THIS PHOTOTOM DODGE/THE COLUMBUS DISPATCHThis nursing student from Pataskala, who contracted Ohio's second confirmed case of the Zika virus, asked that neither his name nor current location be revealed because he's worried about the stigma attached to the virus.By LORI KURTZMANMonday February 22, 2016 8:37 AM 0 0 0 39He started feeling sick the day he returned home from Haiti.Within a few days, he developed a headache and a fever, an illness that would come and go. Soon, he noticed a rash spreading on the backs of his hands. It progressed as the day did, itchy pink splotches rolling across his entire body.He'd contracted the Zika virus, though he didn't know it at the time."At that point, I was more concerned that it was like malaria or something," he said. "I guess I just assumed the worst."The man, a 22-year-old from Pataskala, asked not to be named because he's worried about the stigma surrounding Zika.He is Ohio's second confirmed case of the virus. He's also a nursing student who doesn't want Zika to haunt him when he graduates and seeks a job."Anything unknown freaks people out or scares people," he said.And there's a lot that's unknown about Zika.The virus isn't a new one -- it was first identified in 1947 in rhesus monkeys in Uganda -- but a Zika outbreak that began last year in Brazil sparked new alarm, especially given a possible link between the virus and a rare, serious birth defect called microcephaly.Images of wailing babies with tiny heads have dominated media coverage of Zika, and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that pregnant women and their male partners avoid traveling to areas with active Zika transmission and take precautions against mosquito bites. The World Health Organization has declared Zika and its suspected ties to birth defects an international public-health emergency.For many, though, Zika might be no worse than the average bout of flu. Four in 5 people infected with Zika won't show a single sign of the virus. It's rare for someone to be hospitalized for Zika, and even more rare that someone will die.So far, Zika has made it to the United States through travelers bitten by mosquitoes in the Caribbean and Central and South America. There have been more than 50 confirmed cases in at least 16 states, including four in Ohio that the state health department announced last week.While there are no known cases of Zika transmitted by mosquitoes within the continental United States, health experts say it's only a matter of time before infected mosquitoes are here.It's hard to know when to panic. Or when not to. The nursing student's story might offer some comfort, or it might do the opposite."I personally don't think there's anything to be afraid of or fear," he said. "But I can't speak for long-term effects. There's still a lot that we don't know."He had never left the country before his January trip to Haiti. It was part of his nursing program requirement to immerse himself in a different culture. He flew there Jan. 1 and spent nearly a week with classmates observing and working in clinics near Port-au-Prince.It was a good experience, if not exactly enjoyable. He spent most of his time without working electricity and slept near a window through which mosquitoes paid him nightly visits. Roosters woke him in the morning.He flew home Jan. 7 and thought he might be coming down with a cold. Three days later, his symptoms grew more severe -- the headache and the fever."I didn't think it would be anything too serious at that point," he said.He was in class Jan. 12 when he saw the rash on his hands. Back in his room, he noticed faint pink spotting on his neck and chest, too. By the end of the day, the rash covered his body. It itched like poison ivy. His fingers were so swollen that it hurt to make a fist.Alarmed, he drove from his school in northeastern Ohio to Columbus and checked into the emergency department at Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center. Doctors there weren't sure what was wrong with him and kept him overnight for observation. They drew some blood for a Zika test and told him that his symptoms likely would go away."They gave me some medication to stop the itching," he said. "But that was pretty much all they could do for me."He returned to school, and by Jan. 16, the rash was gone.Almost two weeks ago, he got a phone call confirming that he had, indeed, tested positive for Zika. On Feb. 9, the Ohio Department of Health reported his case hours after announcing that a 30-year-old woman in Cleveland also had tested positive. The state added two more cases Feb. 12, including a 60-year-old Licking County man returning from Haiti.The nursing student has no lingering health effects, though there has been some question about whether and when it was safe for him to return to working with patients. And though Zika has been reported to be transmitted by sex -- something doctors never told him -- his long-term girlfriend has shown no symptoms. (The CDC didn't issue guidelines on sex and Zika until Feb. 5, after a confirmed case of a sexual transmission of the virus in Texas.)Ultimately, for him it was pretty simple: He was sick and then he got better."I don't really feel like it's something that people should be spending all of their time worrying about," he said. "Honestly, I'm happy that it was Zika and not something worse."@LoriKurtzmanhttp://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/lickingcounty/news/2016/02/19/student-with-local-ties-had-zika.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
He started feeling sick the day he returned home from Haiti.Within a few days, he developed a headache and a fever, an illness that would come and go. Soon, he noticed a rash spreading on the backs of his hands. It progressed as the day did, itchy pink splotches rolling across his entire body.He'd contracted the Zika virus, though he didn't know it at the time."At that point, I was more concerned that it was like malaria or something," he said. "I guess I just assumed the worst."The man, a 22-year-old from Pataskala, asked not to be named because he's worried about the stigma surrounding Zika.He is Ohio's second confirmed case of the virus. He's also a nursing student who doesn't want Zika to haunt him when he graduates and seeks a job."Anything unknown freaks people out or scares people," he said.And there's a lot that's unknown about Zika.The virus isn't a new one -- it was first identified in 1947 in rhesus monkeys in Uganda -- but a Zika outbreak that began last year in Brazil sparked new alarm, especially given a possible link between the virus and a rare, serious birth defect called microcephaly.Images of wailing babies with tiny heads have dominated media coverage of Zika, and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that pregnant women and their male partners avoid traveling to areas with active Zika transmission and take precautions against mosquito bites. The World Health Organization has declared Zika and its suspected ties to birth defects an international public-health emergency.For many, though, Zika might be no worse than the average bout of flu. Four in 5 people infected with Zika won't show a single sign of the virus. It's rare for someone to be hospitalized for Zika, and even more rare that someone will die.So far, Zika has made it to the United States through travelers bitten by mosquitoes in the Caribbean and Central and South America. There have been more than 50 confirmed cases in at least 16 states, including four in Ohio that the state health department announced last week.While there are no known cases of Zika transmitted by mosquitoes within the continental United States, health experts say it's only a matter of time before infected mosquitoes are here.It's hard to know when to panic. Or when not to. The nursing student's story might offer some comfort, or it might do the opposite."I personally don't think there's anything to be afraid of or fear," he said. "But I can't speak for long-term effects. There's still a lot that we don't know."He had never left the country before his January trip to Haiti. It was part of his nursing program requirement to immerse himself in a different culture. He flew there Jan. 1 and spent nearly a week with classmates observing and working in clinics near Port-au-Prince.It was a good experience, if not exactly enjoyable. He spent most of his time without working electricity and slept near a window through which mosquitoes paid him nightly visits. Roosters woke him in the morning.He flew home Jan. 7 and thought he might be coming down with a cold. Three days later, his symptoms grew more severe -- the headache and the fever."I didn't think it would be anything too serious at that point," he said.He was in class Jan. 12 when he saw the rash on his hands. Back in his room, he noticed faint pink spotting on his neck and chest, too. By the end of the day, the rash covered his body. It itched like poison ivy. His fingers were so swollen that it hurt to make a fist.Alarmed, he drove from his school in northeastern Ohio to Columbus and checked into the emergency department at Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center. Doctors there weren't sure what was wrong with him and kept him overnight for observation. They drew some blood for a Zika test and told him that his symptoms likely would go away."They gave me some medication to stop the itching," he said. "But that was pretty much all they could do for me."He returned to school, and by Jan. 16, the rash was gone.Almost two weeks ago, he got a phone call confirming that he had, indeed, tested positive for Zika. On Feb. 9, the Ohio Department of Health reported his case hours after announcing that a 30-year-old woman in Cleveland also had tested positive. The state added two more cases Feb. 12, including a 60-year-old Licking County man returning from Haiti.The nursing student has no lingering health effects, though there has been some question about whether and when it was safe for him to return to working with patients. And though Zika has been reported to be transmitted by sex -- something doctors never told him -- his long-term girlfriend has shown no symptoms. (The CDC didn't issue guidelines on sex and Zika until Feb. 5, after a confirmed case of a sexual transmission of the virus in Texas.)Ultimately, for him it was pretty simple: He was sick and then he got better."I don't really feel like it's something that people should be spending all of their time worrying about," he said. "Honestly, I'm happy that it was Zika and not something worse."@LoriKurtzmanhttp://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/lickingcounty/news/2016/02/19/student-with-local-ties-had-zika.html
niman Posted February 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 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...
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