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Florida Health Department Investigates Possible Local Zika Transmission

(Reuters) – Florida health officials said on Tuesday they are investigating a case of Zika virus infection that does not appear to have stemmed from travel to another region with an outbreak. The statement from the Florida Department of Health did not specify whether the Zika case was believed to have been transmitted via mosquito bite, sexual contact or other means. The department also reiterated guidance to Florida residents on protecting themselves from mosquitoes that may carry the virus.

Previous exposure to dengue may make Zika worse, scientists find

By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) – Scientists studying the Zika outbreak in Brazil say previous exposure to another mosquito-borne virus, dengue, may exacerbate the potency of Zika infection. The scientists said their results, published in the journal Nature Immunology, suggested that some dengue antibodies can recognize and bind to Zika due to the similarities between the two viruses, but that these antibodies may also amplify Zika infection in a phenomenon called antibody-dependent enhancement. This effect is already known with dengue, they said, and is thought to explain why, when a person gets dengue fever a second time, the infection is often more serious than the first.

WHO experts in Cape Verde to monitor Zika, microcephaly case

The World Health Organization (WHO) has dispatched a team to Cape Verde to monitor a Zika virus outbreak following the west African archipelago's first recorded microcephaly case. “WHO is sending a team to Cabo Verde (Cape Verde), with joint participation of experts from WHO AFRO and the Institut Pasteur, Dakar,” it said, referring to a Senegal-based infectious disease centre. It follows Cape Verde's announcement on Tuesday of the first appearance of microcephaly on the islands, a severe deformation of the brains of infants whose link with the mosquito-borne Zika virus is under close study.

Russia says registers first case of person infected with Zika virus

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia's consumer safety watchdog said on Monday the country had registered its first case of a person infected with the Zika virus, an unnamed female who had been on holiday in the Dominican Republic. Rospotrebnadzor, the watchdog, said in a statement that the condition of the person was satisfactory and that her family members had tested negative for the virus. (Reporting by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Christian Lowe)

Brazil’s Rousseff vows to win Zika ‘war’

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff vowed to “win the war” against the Zika virus, but some experts criticized her government's response and warned the Olympics could fuel the disease's spread. The tropical virus is blamed for cases of brain damage in babies as it sweeps through Latin America, and Rousseff, whose government is deploying 220,000 soldiers to help eradicate the mosquitoes that transmit it, likened the outbreak to a battle. Rousseff and US President Barack Obama agreed Friday to launch a high-level bilateral group to develop a vaccine.

Zika virus panic over birth defects in Latin America

With the sting of a mosquito bite and a fever, many pregnant women may not know that they caught the Zika virus — until it strikes their unborn child. Babies have been born with abnormally smaller heads, a condition doctors call microcephaly, which often causes brain damage. The scare has struck hardest in Brazil, which hosts the summer Olympic Games in August.