First Case of Zika-Related Microcephaly Reported in Florida

[mountaineer]

The woman reportedly came to the U.S. from Haiti to give birth.

First Case of Zika-Related Microcephaly Reported in Florida
Tuesday, June 28, 2016 12:03PM
ABC News

Zika virus-related microcephaly has been reported for the first time in Florida.

A woman from Haiti gave birth to a child with microcephaly in the state, the Florida Department of Health said today.

Officials noted that the mother contracted the disease when she was out of the U.S. Her name and location were not disclosed.

There have been two other cases of women in the U.S. giving birth to children with Zika-related microcephaly. In both of those cases, the women contracted the disease while outside of the country, according to health officials.

While Zika often causes mild symptoms, the virus has been found to cause serious birth defects, including microcephaly, which is characterized by an abnormally small head. A total of 223 people in Florida, including 40 pregnant women, have been suspected or confirmed of being infected with the Zika virus. There have been no cases where people were infected by mosquitoes while in the U.S., according to health officials.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency in the 24 counties where people have been diagnosed with the Zika virus.

[mountaineer]

More:

Doctors have delivered the first baby in Florida with Zika-related microcephaly, state health officials said Tuesday.

The child’s mother is a Haitian citizen who contracted the mosquito-borne virus while in her home country, the Department of Health said. She came to Florida to give birth.

It was not announced where in the state the baby was born.

As of Monday, 223 people in Florida, including 40 pregnant women, have been diagnosed with Zika. All of the cases are travel-related, meaning the people contracted the virus while traveling overseas or had sexual intercourse with someone who had recently traveled abroad.  ...

National Post

[Rivergirl]

Guess they are forgetting  the woman who arrived here from South America with the intention of giving birth to a baby with the Zika virus issues.   IIRC, she gave birth at a NJ hospital.

[mountaineer]

No, this is the first Zika baby in Florida , not the first in the U.S.

[mountaineer]

 Two new vaccines can protect against Zika after a single shot
Melissa Healy

Just five months after the Zika virus was declared a global public health emergency, a scientific team’s feverish efforts to create a vaccine against the viral threat have borne promising fruit: With a single shot of either of two different types of vaccine, experimental mice gained near-total immunity to Zika for at least two months.

Writing in the journal Nature on Tuesday, a U.S.-Brazilian team of scientists reported that two distinct vaccine candidates conferred powerful protection from Zika infection when each was delivered by intra-muscular injection to mice.

“We were very surprised — and quite impressed — that a single shot of either of these vaccines provided complete protection,” said study co-author Dr. Dan H. Barouch, who after years of work on vaccines against HIV pivoted in late January to work on Zika.

“Of course, we need to be cautious about extrapolating” from a study that has so far only shown success in mice, said Barouch, who directs vaccine research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

But several of the study’s findings “certainly raise optimism that the development of a safe and effective vaccine against Zika virus for humans may be successful,” he added.   ...

More at Chicago Tribune