Earlier, Brazilian scientists said they had detected for the first time active samples of Zika in urine and saliva.

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-35506726

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-35493892
Zika: The key unanswered questions

Health Minister Alejandro Gaviria said there was a "causal connection" between Zika, the Guillain-Barre disorder and the three deaths.

Earlier, Brazilian scientists said they had detected for the first time active samples of Zika in urine and saliva.

However, it is not clear whether the virus can be transmitted through bodily fluids.

The BBC is a bit behind the curve on this one... Bodily fluid transmission has been confirmed. You yourself linked to it earlier, though it was a mainstream news report, and not someone authoritative.

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2016/02/sexual-transmission-zika-confirmed-texas

Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS) said the Texas patient was infected with the virus after having sexual contact with a sick person who returned from a country where the Zika virus is circulating.

Because of patient privacy concerns, the DCHHS didn't provide any other information about the case, other than reporting that tests at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the finding.

In a separate announcement, the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) said the infection is the state's first locally acquired case. It said the state has logged seven travel-linked Zika virus cases so far.

The case also appears to be the first locally acquired Zika infection in the continental United States in the current outbreak. The CDC has warned that limited local transmission is likely to occur, but the chance of widespread transmission is unlikely.

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/wr/mm6505e1er.htm?s_cid=mm6505e1er_w.htm

...
Sexual transmission of Zika virus is possible, and is of particular concern during pregnancy.
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Carnival roars ahead in Brazil despite Zika health scare

The worst health scare in recent history is not keeping Brazilians from their annual Carnival revelry, with millions of partiers swarming streets and some making fun of the mosquito that spreads Zika and other viruses.

Street processions, block parties and the televised, big-budget parades that are the hallmark of the festival moved into their second day on Sunday, even as Brazilian health officials continued to grapple with an outbreak that may have infected as many as 1.5 million people and could be linked to suspected deformations in more than 4,000 infants and unborn children.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-zika-brazil-idUSKCN0VG0XM

MajorKong, I see your point. Thanks :)

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Obama asks for $1.8 billion in emergency Zika funding

WASHINGTON — President Obama will ask Congress for $1.8 billion in emergency funding to combat the Zika virus through mosquito control programs, vaccine research, education and improving health care for low-income pregnant women, the White House said Monday.

Video

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Hawaii's Big Island Declares Emergency Over Dengue

The mayor of Hawaii's Big Island has declared a state of emergency to deal with an outbreak of dengue fever, spread by infected mosquitoes, with 250 cases confirmed over the past four months.

As a result of Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi's order people on the Big Island will be allowed to resume disposing of old tires in landfills, since tires left lying around are a known breeding spot for mosquitoes.

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/hawaii-s-big-island-declares-emergency-over-dengue-n514536

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Zika confirmed in IN, OH, elsewhere, among travelers to affected areas

Indiana and Ohio health officials on Tuesday announced the first human cases of Zika in their states, but experts say the risk of contracting the virus locally remains low.

Ohio officials said the virus was reported in a 30-year-old Cleveland woman. Indiana officials wouldn't say where in the state the resident who contracted Zika lives, although they did say the person wasn't pregnant and never got sick enough to require hospitalization. Both people had recently traveled to Haiti, one of 30 countries and territories with active Zika virus transmission, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2016/02/09/zika-confirmed-oh-elsewhere-among-travelers-affected-areas/80052798/

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Experts Study Zika’s Path From First Outbreak in Pacific


HONG KONG — Yap Island, the biggest in a group of tiny islands in the Western Pacific best known for using huge stone discs as currency, was facing a medical mystery.

In 2007, doctors were seeing an alarming increase in the number of patients with rashes, inflamed eyes and joint pain. Initial tests provided no answers to what was making them sick.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/11/world/asia/zika-virus-yap-island.html

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Very sad news for babies. :-)

CDC confirms link between Zika, microcephaly in Brazilian babies who died

WASHINGTON — The Centers for Disease Control has identified the Zika virus in the tissue of two babies who died in Brazil from microcephaly — the strongest link yet between the virus and the birth defect that has stricken developing fetuses, the CDC director told a House panel Wednesday.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/02/10/cdc-confirms-link-between-zika-microcephaly-brazilian-babies-who-died/80179898/

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Sierra Leone releases last four people from Ebola quarantine

Freetown (AFP) - Four people who had been in contact with Sierra Leone's last known Ebola case were declared free of the disease and released from quarantine Thursday, health authorities said.

The authorities announced on Tuesday that the Ebola patient, 38-year-old Memunatu Kalokoh, was cured and discharged from hospital.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/sierra-leone-releases-last-four-people-ebola-quarantine-180610076.html

Good news.

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Zika link to birth defects could be proven within weeks: WHO

The suspected link between the Zika virus and two neurological disorders, the birth defect microcephaly and Guillain-Barre syndrome, could be confirmed within weeks, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-zika-idUSKCN0VL0TQ

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More than 5,000 pregnant women in Colombia have Zika virus: government

More than 5,000 pregnant Colombian women are infected with the mosquito-borne Zika virus, the country's national health institute said on Saturday, as the disease continues its rapid spread across the Americas.

Cases of the virus total 31,555, the institute said in a epidemiology bulletin, among them 5,013 pregnant women.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-zika-colombia-idUSKCN0VM0JS

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Russia reports first case of person infected with Zika virus

Russia has registered its first case of a person infected with the Zika virus after a tourist contracted the disease in the Dominican Republic, Russian Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said on Monday.

http://in.reuters.com/article/health-zika-russia-idINKCN0VO14N

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Scientists debunk theory linking pesticide, not Zika, to birth defects

Experts debunked a theory this week that linked pesticides to an increase in birth defects thought to be caused by the mosquito-borne Zika virus in Brazil.

Video and Link

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Thank's for the link lyn watching carefully this station , still on the fence weather it's pollution or the Virus

Only thing that may make cents is when the lady's became pregnant as not all the pregnant women seem to have problems with the child and be affected .

Maybe the earlier it is in the pregnancy the higher the risk .

1st or 2nd trimester very bad 3rd trimester safe !!!

That may show up in the questioning and stats if someone is looking at that sort of stat , hint hint out there someone !

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Cure for cancer is no longer a utopia:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160216090354.htm#.VsRO3R5r9YM.twitter

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rOZZ
Music
Pictures

Thank's for the link lyn watching carefully this station , still on the fence weather it's pollution or the Virus

Only thing that may make cents is when the lady's became pregnant as not all the pregnant women seem to have problems with the child and be affected .

Maybe the earlier it is in the pregnancy the higher the risk .

1st or 2nd trimester very bad 3rd trimester safe !!!

That may show up in the questioning and stats if someone is looking at that sort of stat , hint hint out there someone !

Darth, your welcome for the link. I'm no scientist, but think it's a virus.

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Cure for cancer is no longer a utopia:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160216090354.htm#.VsRO3R5r9YM.twitter

Thanks for the important link, Julie.

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WHO seeks $56 million for Zika; Brazil microcephaly cases rise

The World Health Organization (WHO) called on Wednesday for $56 million to combat the Zika virus, a disease that has been linked to severe birth defects in Brazil and has spread to 39 countries.

The funds sought would be used until June to fast-track vaccines, carry out diagnostics and research into how the mosquito-borne virus spreads, as well as virus control, the WHO said.

http://in.reuters.com/article/us-health-zika-idINKCN0VQ27A

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First known sexual transmission of Zika virus in U.S. was eight years ago

(CNN)The news out of Dallas in early February exploded around the world: Zika can be transmitted by sex.

Suddenly, a virus that wasn't supposed to be a game changer in the United States took on a whole new dimension. It spurred the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to add recommendations for safe sex to the already growing list of precautions needed to protect pregnant women from getting Zika and possibly infecting their unborn babies.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/17/health/first-zika-virus-sexual-transmission/index.html

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Zika virus: Study supports link to microcephaly

Scientists say a study involving pregnant women in Brazil "strengthens" the theory that Zika is linked to microcephaly birth defects in babies.

The research confirmed the presence of Zika virus in the amniotic fluid of two women who had had Zika-like symptoms during their pregnancies.

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-35597465

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Pope suggests contraception can be condoned in Zika crisis

An outbreak of the Zika virus sweeping across Central and South America could make use of contraceptives a "lesser evil" for Catholics who are prohibited by the church from using birth control, Pope Francis said.

Health officials link the virus to birth defects. The Roman Catholic Church considers it a sin to have an abortion or to use contraceptives.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/02/18/pope-suggests-contraception-can-condoned-zika-crisis/80556884/

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