CDC Issues New Warning On Zika...

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — The Centers for Disease Control released new information Tuesday showing the impact of the Zika virus last year — offering advice on what to do before the insects start biting this year. The new report summarizes the number of Zika related infections last year in all U.S. states and territories with the exception of Puerto Rico, which has a separate registry due to its large number of cases. As CBS2’s Dr. Max Gomez reports, mosquitoes are the focus of prevention and control efforts in municipalities across the country — especially in South Florida and along the southern border, where the aedes aegypti mosquito, the primary carrier of the Zika virus, is found. But completely eradicating mosquitoes is impossible, and the vast majority of Zika cases in the U.S. were in women who had traveled to tropical countries with known Zika outbreaks. According to the CDC, that travel led to approximately 1,300 infections across 44 states — including New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut — in pregnant women. In those suspected cases, there were more than 40 birth defects. In laboratory confirmed cases of Zika, one in ten women had a baby with a birth defect. It’s those birth defects that has the acting director of the CDC especially concerned. CBS>>>>>>