CDC-NIAID Telebriefing: Zika 101 Transcript & HHS Blog

Mosquito Bite Prevention for the United States PDF

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Amid the whirlwind of Zika related public health announcements yesterday (see WHO To Convene IHR Emergency Committee Meeting On Zika &  WHO Zika Media Briefing Audio Recording) the CDC held telebriefing of their own called ZIKA 101, featuring NIAID Director Dr Tony Fauci and the CDC's Principal Deputy Director Anne Schuchat, M.D..

Dr. Schuchat was the `voice' of the CDC during much of the opening months of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, and impressed mightily with her ability to convey rapidly changing and unscripted information – while acknowledging  the things about the virus that were still unknown – in almost daily briefings.

For those unable to attend the CDC's event, we have a transcript posted to the CDC's media site late yesterday:

Transcript for CDC Telebriefing: Zika Virus Travel Alert

Press Briefing Transcript

Thursday, January 28, 2016.

Please Note:This transcript is not edited and may contain errors.

OPERATOR: Welcome, and thank you for standing by.  At this time, all participants are in listen only mode.  After the presentation, we'll conduct a question and answer session.  To ask a question, please press the star and 1 and please record your name.  Today’s conference is being recorded.  If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time.

 
TOM SKINNER: We’ll be joined today by DR.  Anne Schuchat, the Principal Deputy Director of the CDC and DR. Tony Fauci, Director of the National Institutes for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, both providing opening remarks about the current outbreak of Zika virus infection.  We understand we are getting a lot of calls and a lot of interest in this story right now.  We want to try to provide you all with as much information as we can, and so we're having this telebriefing.  I’ll turn the call over now to Dr. Schuchat. 

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Dr. Schuchat also penned a blog on Zika yesterday for the HHS.GOV website, which goes over the basics of Zika.

Zika 101

January 28, 2016

 

By: Dr. Anne Schuchat, Principal Deputy Director, CDC

 

Summary: 

 

The Zika virus is spread to people through the bite of infected mosquitos. About 1 in 5 people who get infected with Zika virus will show symptoms.

 

In the past several weeks, increased cases of Zika virus disease (Zika) have been reported in South and Central America, and to a limited degree in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a US territory, and the US Virgin Islands.  Zika is a little known illness spread by a certain type of mosquito. Although most people who may be exposed to Zika virus will have only mild or no symptoms, there has been evidence linking Zika virus to negative effects on pregnancies in some cases, which has received widespread public attention. We understand that this news is concerning, especially to pregnant women and their families who may travel to or live in affected areas. Here are some answers to common questions about Zika.

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