Two University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) professors will lead Zika research along the Texas-Mexico border as part of a multi-institutional consortium to establish a Western Gulf Center for Excellence for Vector-borne Diseases. They hope to create an early warning system to curtail the spread of the virus.
The year winds down with yet more Zika reported in Texas. While travel-related, the latest case marks the first case of the virus in Hays County.
Officials from the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) announced the state’s first Zika case likely spread by a local mosquito.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott pressed President Barack Obama to release the estimated $400 million in federal funds earmarked for Zika preparedness and response to “Zika-prone states.” Abbott highlighted the highly vulnerable Texas southern border where local government leaders fear “sufficient funding is not available for mosquito eradication.”
Officials in San Antonio, Texas, worry that Zika virus may pose a serious threat to the local blood supply. They held a press conference Monday to address these concerns.
An expert in pediatric infectious diseases told reporters in Dallas that people in Texas who are infected with the Zika virus could infect mosquitoes and start a new “transmission cycle” in Texas.
