There square measure thirty one active cases of Zika virus in Northern Virginia, the Virginia Department of Health confirmed last week--and double that number--a total of a minimum of sixty two cases, throughout the state.
The Virginia Department of Health updates their numbers of cases each Thursday, thus it's potential those numbers have already redoubled.
Zika, that has been joined to birth defects, is transmitted by infected mosquitoes biting somebody. There also are cases of sexual transmission, each from men to girls and from girls to men. the complete potential effects of the virus square measure til now unknown and there's no vaccinum. consistent with the Centers for illness management and hindrance, additionally to birth defects and different physiological condition issues, many countries that have intimate Zika outbreaks recently have according will increase in those who have Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), AN uncommon illness of the systema nervosum within which a person’s own system damages the nerve cells, inflicting muscle weakness, and generally, paralysis.
According to the Virginia Department of Health, all of the cases in Virginia to this point were narrowed whereas traveling to square measureas wherever mosquitoes are acknowledged to be transmittal Zika. they are saying there has nonetheless to be native transmission in Virginia, wherever somebody becomes infected with Zika from being bitten by a dipteron among the commonwealth, however probably all that might ought to occur to create that happen would be a dipteron biting AN infected person and so changing into infected with the virus itself before transmittal the virus by biting some other person.
“The health department’s goal is to prevent native transmission,” same disease medical specialty Supervisor dancer Kiernan at a Zika government building meeting at the West Springfield Government Center last week. “Part of that's education.”
Throughout the summer, the Fairfax County Health Department has worked to teach residents on a way to forestall Zika in Fairfax County.
The health department recommends taking hindrance strategies like carrying long sleeved vesture, mistreatment bug spray that contains DEET, removing standing water from yards and mistreatment pesticides specifically supposed for mosquitos.
Kiernan calculable that Zika can be a threat within the space till October, once the temperature and wetness drop to A level wherever mosquitoes aren’t probably to survive.
In order to continue educating the general public on Zika, Kiernan suggested obtaining tested if symptoms like fever, rash, joint pain or red eyes follow exposure to mosquitoes.
Environmental Health Supervisor chaff Smith, of the Fairfax Health Department’s illness Carrying Insects Program, recommends visiting the CDC, the Virginia Department of Health and therefore the Fairfax County Health Department websites to induce a lot of data regarding wherever Zika is and details regarding hindrance strategies. The slides the Health Department has been showing at government building events just like the one last week also are on the market on those websites.