West Virginia Zika Cases Increase To Five

[niman]

Laboratory-confirmed Zika virus disease cases reported to ArboNET by state or territory — United States, 2015–2016 (as of March 16, 2016)

http://www.cdc.gov/zika/geo/united-states.html

States	Travel-associated cases* No. (%) (N=258)	Locally acquired cases† No. (%) (N=0)
Alabama	1      (<1)	0    (0)
Arkansas	1      (<1)	0    (0)
California	13    (5)	0    (0)
Colorado	2      (1)	0    (0)
Delaware	1      (<1)	0    (0)
District of Columbia	3      (1)	0    (0)
Florida	59    (23)	0    (0)
Georgia	7      (3)	0    (0)
Hawaii	5      (2)	0    (0)
Illinois	7      (3)	0    (0)
Indiana	4      (2)	0    (0)
Iowa	4      (2)	0    (0)
Kansas	1      (<1)	0    (0)
Kentucky	1      (<1)	0    (0)
Louisiana	2      (1)	0    (0)
Maryland	5      (2)	0    (0)
Massachusetts	3      (1)	0    (0)
Michigan	2      (1)	0    (0)
Minnesota	7      (3)	0    (0)
Missouri	1      (<1)	0    (0)
Montana	1      (<1)	0    (0)
Nebraska	2      (1)	0    (0)
New Hampshire	2      (1)	0    (0)
New Jersey	2      (1)	0    (0)
New York	42    (16)	0    (0)
North Carolina	6      (2)	0    (0)
Ohio	8      (3)	0    (0)
Oklahoma	3      (1)	0    (0)
Oregon	6      (2)	0    (0)
Pennsylvania	8      (3)	0    (0)
Tennessee	1      (<1)	0    (0)
Texas	34    (13)	0    (0)
Virginia	7      (3)	0    (0)
Washington	2      (1)	0    (0)
West Virginia	5      (2)	0    (0)

[niman]

Map Updated

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

 

[niman]

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Five cases of Zika confirmed in WV, so far

by Lydia Nuzum, Staff Writer

AP file photo

Aedes aegypti mosquitoes sit in a petri dish at the Fiocruz institute in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil, on Jan. 27. The mosquito, which could be found in West Virginia, is a vector for the proliferation of the Zika virus currently spreading throughout Latin America.

 

Four more cases of Zika virus, the mosquito-borne illness responsible for major birth defects in hundreds of South American babies, have been confirmed in West Virginians who have traveled outside the country, according to state health officials.

 

 

The Department of Health and Human Resources said there have been five total cases in the state. The first, a Clay County man who traveled to Haiti for a church mission trip, was confirmed in early March. The other four cases are among others who traveled to Haiti for the same mission trip, although the DHHR did not release their home counties.

 

 

Since late January, the DHHR has sent 24 samples for testing to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It has received the results for the five positive tests, as well as 13 negative tests, and is awaiting the results of six more tests, according to Dr. Rahul Gupta, commissioner of the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health.

 

 

In March, Gupta told reporters that eight of the 11 tests pending at the CDC at the time were samples from pregnant women; all of those test results have since been received and no pregnant women were among the five diagnosed with Zika, Gupta said.

 

 

Of the six samples still pending, one is for a pregnant woman, Gupta said.

 

 

“Four out of five who contract Zika will be asymptomatic,” he said. “That fifth person will usually have mild symptoms, like fever, rash, body aches, conjunctivitis. Pregnant women are where we have the most concern; those are the ones we need to test, if there’s a travel history.”

 

 

The virus in pregnant women has been linked to microcephaly, a neurodevelopmental disorder that occurs during fetal development and causes abnormally small heads and impaired brain development in affected children. Because of this, the CDC has warned pregnant women and those who might become pregnant to avoid traveling to areas where the virus is active.

 

 

Because many Zika cases are asymptomatic, the state recommends that pregnant women who have traveled to countries where the virus is endemic be tested, even if they have not become ill.

 

 

There have been no confirmed cases of Zika transmitted by mosquitoes inside the United States, but Gupta said he anticipates that the country eventually will have to deal with cases transmitted by native mosquitoes.

 

 

Two types of Aedes mosquitoes carry the virus — one, Aedes albopictus, is common in West Virginia, and the CDC has declared that the other, Aedes aegypti, could be found in the state. While aegypti is less common, albopictus is a concern for public health officials because of its hardiness — its eggs can survive for a short time without water, and Gupta said the state is developing a Zika action plan that includes greater vector control and surveillance.

 

 

“The emphasis here is about travel, at this point, but going into the summer, it will be about mosquito control,” Gupta said. “There are certainly other parts of the nation that are a lot more at risk. However, we do have the albopictus mosquito, and even though it is less effective at carrying the virus, it still can.”

 

 

Zika also can be transmitted sexually — seven cases of the virus transmitted through intercourse have been reported in the United States, so far, according to the CDC. Gupta said those who have traveled to Zika-endemic countries should be tested for the virus and practice safe sex, to avoid transmitting the disease to a partner.

 

 

For more information, or to report a suspected case of Zika, visit www.dide.wv.gov or call 304-558-5358, Ext. 1.

 

 

Reach Lydia Nuzum at [email protected], 304-348-5189 or follow @lydianuzum on Twitter.

- See more at: http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/20160414/five-cases-of-zika-confirmed-in-wv-so-far#sthash.J2Ds2MC9.dpuf

 

Edited April 21, 2016 by niman

[niman]

Map Updated

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