Close X
Saturday, November 30, 2024
ADVT 
Health

CDC Expands Tropical Virus Alert; 22 Destinations On List

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 22 Jan, 2016 11:51 AM
    Health authorities have added eight tropical destinations to a travel alert about an illness linked with a severe birth defect and spread by mosquitoes.
     
    The updated alert issued Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention brings the total to 22 destinations, most in Latin America and the Caribbean, where there have been outbreaks of the Zika virus.
     
    The new locations are Barbados, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin and Guyana; Cape Verde, off the coast of western Africa; and Samoa in the South Pacific.
     
    Last week's alert included Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Suriname and Venezuela.
     
    The CDC says pregnant women should consider postponing trips to these destinations because the virus has been linked with microcephaly. Affected newborns have unusually small heads and abnormal brain development.
     
    All travellers to these areas are advised to take precautions, including using repellent and wearing long sleeves and long pants, to avoid mosquito bites.
     
    Zika illness can cause fever, rash and joint pain but most people infected by mosquito bites don't show symptoms. There's no specific treatment; infected people aren't contagious.
     
    The CDC says people who do develop symptoms should tell their doctors where and when they travelled.

    MORE Health ARTICLES

    Copper could help prevent Ebola spread

    Copper could help prevent Ebola spread
    Replacing frequently-touched surfaces, such as door handles, taps and light switches, with solid copper or copper alloy equivalents could be an...

    Copper could help prevent Ebola spread

    Inhaled Ebola vaccine could offer long-term protection

    Inhaled Ebola vaccine could offer long-term protection
    A single dose of a breathable, respiratory vaccine could provide long-term protection against the deadly Ebola virus, new research shows....

    Inhaled Ebola vaccine could offer long-term protection

    Sugar-rich fat maintains supply of brain stem cells

    Sugar-rich fat maintains supply of brain stem cells
    Fat and sugar are considered to be the culprits when it comes to obesity and related health complications but if researchers are to be believed...

    Sugar-rich fat maintains supply of brain stem cells

    Defective nerve insulation triggers migraine

    Defective nerve insulation triggers migraine
    The unbearable headache that migraine patients suffer is due to cellular-level changes in nerve structure, says a study....

    Defective nerve insulation triggers migraine

    Mild BP control adequate for people above 60

    Mild BP control adequate for people above 60
    Even a mild dose of drugs used to treat high blood pressure would be adequate for the elderly population who suffer from the condition, a study says....

    Mild BP control adequate for people above 60

    Research offers hope for patients with cardiovascular disease

    Research offers hope for patients with cardiovascular disease
    A new research has shown a protein, which controls the growth of new blood vessels, could potentially reduce the effects of cardiovascular disease...

    Research offers hope for patients with cardiovascular disease