Tag: americas

  • Why the Zika virus is causing alarm

    Global health officials are racing to better understand the Zika virus behind a major outbreak that began in Brazil last year and has spread to many countries in the Americas. Zika is transmitted to people through the bite of infected female mosquitoes, primarily the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same type that spreads dengue, chikungunya and…

  • Why the Zika virus is causing alarm

    Global health officials are racing to better understand the Zika virus behind a major outbreak that began in Brazil last year and has spread to many countries in the Americas. Zika is transmitted to people through the bite of infected female mosquitoes, primarily the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same type that spreads dengue, chikungunya and…

  • U.S. to fund Zika virus study of U.S. Olympic team

    The U.S. National Institutes of Health said it will fund a study to monitor U.S. athletes, coaches and members of the Olympic Committee staff for exposure to Zika virus while in Brazil, with the hope of gaining better understanding of how it persists in the body and the potential risks it poses. The study, announced…

  • Factbox: Why the Zika virus is causing alarm

    Global health officials are racing to better understand the Zika virus behind a major outbreak that began in Brazil last year and has spread to many countries in the Americas. Zika is transmitted to people through the bite of infected female mosquitoes, primarily the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same type that spreads dengue, chikungunya and…

  • Factbox: Why the Zika virus is causing alarm

    Global health officials are racing to better understand the Zika virus behind a major outbreak that began in Brazil last year and has spread to many countries in the Americas. Zika is transmitted to people through the bite of infected female mosquitoes, primarily the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same type that spreads dengue, chikungunya and…

  • Mosquitoes’ rapid spread poses threat beyond Zika

    By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) – As the world focuses on Zika's rapid advance in the Americas, experts warn the virus that originated in Africa is just one of a growing number of continent-jumping diseases carried by mosquitoes threatening swathes of humanity. Today, mosquito invaders are turning up with increasing regularity from Washington DC to…

  • White House, House Republicans spar over Zika, Ebola funding

    By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House said on Friday that it would be “profoundly unwise” to plow money set aside for Ebola-related projects into research and mitigation efforts for the mosquito-borne Zika virus as several top Republican lawmakers have requested. Democratic President Barack Obama has asked the U.S. Congress for more than…

  • FDA recommends ban on blood collections from Zika-affected areas

    By Toni Clarke WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended on Tuesday that blood should no longer be collected from regions where the Zika virus is circulating, and that blood needed for transfusions be obtained from areas of the country without active transmission. The agency said blood banks can continue collecting and…

  • Spain reports first known European case of Zika-infected pregnant woman

    Spain said Thursday that a pregnant woman who had returned from Colombia had been diagnosed with the Zika virus, in the first such known European case. “One of the patients diagnosed in (the northeastern region of) Catalonia is a pregnant woman, who showed symptoms after having travelled to Colombia,” the health ministry announced, adding she…

  • Man admits killing Dutch ex-minister over euthanasia law

    THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A man accused of killing a former Dutch health minister admitted the slaying at a court hearing Thursday, claiming it was an “order from God” because she was responsible for the Netherlands' euthanasia law.