July 21st, 2016 by WCBC Radio
Maryland will receive $1.4 million in federal funding to help it keep tabs on the Zika virus, improve lab testing capacity and control mosquitoes, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday.
The mosquito-borne virus was declared a public health emergency after being linked to cases of microcephaly, a severe birth defect characterized by small heads and brains. The virus also has been connected to Guillain-Barré, a rare syndrome that can cause temporary paralysis.
States such as Maryland, which has recorded 42 cases of Zika, already have stepped up efforts to monitor for the virus. Until recently, all of the cases recorded nationwide – more than 1,400 including 400 pregnant women – have been related to people traveling to heavily infected countries or to sexual contact.
Authorities are now looking into a case in Florida that may have resulted directly from a mosquito bite. Another case of infection in a person who was caring for an infected family member in Utah is unexplained.
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