Dr. Angela Rocha shows brain scans of a baby born with microcephaly at the Oswaldo Cruz Hospital in Recife, Brazil.  FELIPE DANA/AP

CLICK HERE - NEJM - Prolonged Shedding of Zika Virus Associated with Congenital Infection

CLICK HERE - Radiology - Congenital Brain Abnormalities and Zika Virus: What the Radiologist Can Expect to See Prenatally and Postnatally

statnews.com - by Helen Branswell - August 24, 2016

A new report from Brazil raises questions about whether the Zika virus can continue to damage an infected infant’s brain after birth.

An infant in Sao Paulo whose mother was infected late in her second trimester was born without any visible birth defects. But testing showed the baby had the Zika virus in his blood; the virus remained in his system for at least a couple of months.

At six months, it became apparent that the child had suffered Zika-related brain damage.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are seen inside Oxitec laboratory in Campinas, Brazil, February 2, 2016.
REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker/File Photo

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Radiology - Congenital Brain Abnormalities and Zika Virus: What the Radiologist Can Expect to See Prenatally and Postnatally

reuters.com - Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; Editing by Dan Grebler - August 23, 2016

A report released on Tuesday shows in graphic detail the kind of damage Zika infections can do to the developing brain - damage that goes well beyond the devastating birth defect known as microcephaly, in which the baby's head is smaller than normal.

The current Zika outbreak was first detected last year in Brazil, where the virus has been linked to more than 1,800 cases of microcephaly, which can cause severe developmental problems.

Prior research has shown the Zika virus attacks neural progenitor cells - a type of stem cell that develops into different types of nerve or brain cells.

Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH - Zika Virus Infects Neural Progenitors in the Adult Mouse Brain and Alters Proliferation

New research has found evidence the mosquito-borne virus can adversely affect cells necessary for replenishing damaged neurons.

theatlantic.com - by Marina Koren - August 19, 2016

Zika is understood to pose the greatest threat to pregnant women and their fetuses, which can be born with severe brain defects if infected with the mosquito-borne virus. But new research suggests Zika may damage adult brains, too, giving scientists another thread to follow in their attempts to understand the virus as the number of infections continues to rise in South America, the Caribbean, and elsewhere.

U.S. researchers have found evidence that a certain kind of brain cell present in newborns that remains in some amounts in adulthood can be susceptible to Zika infection, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLES WITHIN THE LINKS BELOW . . .

Image: A photograph of a baby wearing a diaper. Jerome Scholler / Shutterstock

theatlantic.com - August 18th 2016 - Adrienne LaFrance

Among the many mysteries that have vexed scientists about the ongoing Zika epidemic is the question of how, in pregnant women, the virus manages to cross the maternal-fetal barrier.

A woman’s body is usually quite good at protecting her growing baby. There are biological blockades to prevent the transmission of viruses to a fetus through the bloodstream, by way of the placenta; the same path for the nutrients and oxygen that sustain a developing baby.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)

A Sunshine Meeting to discuss the Zika virus and other related issues among the Members of Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners was held on August 9, 2016.

http://miamidade.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=3977

http://miamidade.gov/wps/portal/Main/webcasting

Zika virus is classified as biological safety level (BSL) 2 pathogen.

Revised diagnostic testing for Zika, chikungunya, and dengue viruses in US Public Health Laboratories - February 7, 2016
(see page 2, of 6 page .PDF file)
https://www.cdc.gov/zika/pdfs/denvchikvzikv-testing-algorithm.pdf

Associated Press - by Danica Coto - August 5, 2016

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Health officials announced Friday that an elderly person infected with Zika has died in Puerto Rico as the U.S. territory battles what federal authorities call a silent epidemic.

The victim was a 75-year-old man who was hospitalized and died from health ailments unrelated to Zika, according to Health Secretary Ana Rius. . . .

. . . The first Zika-related death was reported in late April and involved a 70-year-old man from the San Juan metro area. He suffered internal bleeding after developing a condition in which antibodies that formed in response to a Zika infection began attacking blood platelet cells. At the time, Rius said there were three other cases of the condition known as severe thrombocytopenia and that those patients recovered.

CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE

(See additional supporting documentation within the links below)

CLICK HERE - Zika virus: first American dies of complications linked to disease

CLICK HERE - VIDEO - NY1 Online: City Health Commissioner, Professor Talk Concerns About Zika Virus, Both at Rio Olympics and in US

ny1.com - by Inside City Hall - August 3, 2016

Errol Louis discussed concerns about the Zika virus, both at the Rio Olympics and here in the United States, with City Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett and Columbia University Professor Stephen Morse.

With the growing Zika outbreak in Florida, it's a dangerous mistake to continue underestimating the virus. 

Complacency is the enemy.  (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

usnews.com - by Stephen S. Morse - August 1, 2016

We've seen it coming for months. Zika has been moving with hurricane intensity throughout South America and the Caribbean, appearing for the first time in 42 countries in the Western Hemisphere in less than two years. . . .

. . . We cannot afford to keep trying to catch-up every time another infection appears. . . .

. . . Zika is the infectious disease crisis now, but in our increasingly globalized and urban world, we can expect many more to come.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

by Philip K. Stoddard, Ph.D. - Mayor of South Miami & Professor of Biological Sciences - Florida International University

Tactics for keeping out Zika

1. Keep Aedes aegypti from breeding in your house and yard by eliminating all standing water (see checklist on other side).

2. Keep Aedes aegypti out of your house. Window and screens should have no gaps or holes. Move and empty your pet’s water dish every day when they don’t need it.

3. Avoid getting bitten outdoors.

Insect repellants with DEET repel flying mosquitoes and prevent them from biting. Long sleeves and trousers help. Electric fans help – Aedes aegypti is a weak flyer and likes still air.

4. Don’t let your neighbors down.

One person can provide mosquitoes for the whole neighborhood by not taking the precautions listed here.

CLICK HERE FOR ADDITIONAL IMPORTANT INFORMATION (2 page .PDF file)

Florida governor asks CDC to activate emergency response team following increase in Zika cases

CLICK HERE - CDC - Zika Virus - Advice for people living in or traveling to Wynwood, a neighborhood in Florida

weather.com - by Eric Chaney - August 1, 2016

The CDC issued an advisory Monday that says pregnant women should not travel to a so-called Zika "transmission area" near Miami, the same day governor Rick Scott announced there are 10 new infections of the Zika virus likely transmitted by mosquitoes, bringing the total in the state to 14.

The governor called on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to activate an Emergency Response Team to assist the Florida Department of Health and other partners in their investigation, sample collection, and mosquito control efforts.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Image: Senate minority leader Harry Reid, one of the senators who has demanded Republicans reconvene Congress for Zika funding. Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

theguardian.com - July 31st 2016 - Joanna Walters

Senate Democrats have called for Congress to end its recess and immediately approve emergency funds for combating the Zika virus in America, after Florida reported its first cases of mosquito-borne infections on the mainland, and funding for mosquito nets for pregnant women started running low.

Near downtown Miami, teams of doctors were going door to door on Saturday to alert an estimated 30,000 residents, particularly pregnant women, of the risks of being bitten by local mosquitoes believed to be carrying the virus.

On Friday, Florida governor Rick Scott and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed that four new cases of the disease in the Miami area were almost certainly contracted through local insect bites.

submitted by Albert Gomez

cnn.com - by Debra Goldschmidt - July 29, 2016

(CNN) Four individuals in Miami-Dade and Broward counties have been infected with the Zika virus by local mosquitoes, Florida health officials said Friday.

These are the first known cases of the virus being transmitted by mosquitoes in the continental United States.

The unidentified individuals had not traveled to a Zika-affected area, had not had sexual contact with someone who had traveled to a place where the virus is circulating and had no other known exposure to the virus.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

(CLICK HERE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION)

crofsblogs.typepad.com - g1.globo.com - July 24, 2016

Transmission of Zika by house mosquito requires 'radical change' in control measures

Biologist Constância Ayres, of Fiocruz Pernambuco, has made an unprecedented discovery that has the potential to provide a leap in scientists' knowledge of the Zika virus, and radically change the Brazilian strategy of preventing it.

Ayres succeeded in finding for the first time, mosquitoes carrying the virus in nature.

On Thursday, Fiocruz officially announced that the mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus, known as muriçoca or house mosquito, can also transmit the virus that causes microcephaly and malformations in babies.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

------------------------------------------

via Google Translate

Zika transmission by common stilt requires 'radical change' in control measures

Scientists at Fiocruz Pernambuco met for the first time this type of mosquitoes carrying the Zika in nature - now analyze how effective it is in its transmission among humans.

Marvin Recinos / AFP / Getty Images

CLICK HERE - Florida Department of Health - Investigating Possible Non-Travel Related Case of Zika

CLICK HERE - Newsroom - Miami-Dade County - Florida Department of Health

nbcnews.com - by Maggie Fox - July 19, 2016

Florida health officials said Tuesday they were investigating a possible case of Zika that wasn't carried back by a traveler.

If it's confirmed, it would be the first evidence that Zika has spread to mosquitoes in the continental U.S. All cases up to now have been in people who traveled to Zika-affected regions or their sexual partners.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLE HERE - STAT - Zika case in Florida could have come from local mosquito, a first in continental US