Tag Archives: Puerto Rico

CDC director calls Zika in Puerto Rico a ‘challenge and crisis’

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO (Reuters) – During a tour of Zika preparations in Puerto Rico, Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, called Zika a “tremendous challenge and crisis” and said protecting pregnant women from the virus is a top priority.

In Brazil, Zika has been linked to a spike in cases of microcephaly, a birth defect marked by small head size and underdeveloped brains.

“Until a few months ago, no one had any idea that Zika could cause birth defects,” Frieden told reporters Tuesday at a briefing in Puerto Rico’s health department.

Frieden has been working with CDC staff and the Puerto Rican government on strategies to protect pregnant from becoming infected with the mosquito-borne virus, which Frieden called a top priority.

In Puerto Rico, the Aedes aegypti mosquito that carries Zika is widespread, and Frieden said controlling it will require a multi-pronged approach involving government, municipalities, neighbors, families and society at large.

Cases of Zika are doubling weekly in Puerto Rico, and the CDC expects hundreds of thousands of individuals will become infected, including thousands of pregnant women.

To protect pregnant women, Frieden recommended using insect repellent daily and reliably.

He also suggested adding window screens and air conditioning, where possible. And he called for reducing standing water in and around homes to eliminate mosquito breeding habitats.

Frieden’s comments, delivered mostly in Spanish, followed two days of briefings with staff at the CDC’s Emergency Operations Center in San Juan. CDC researchers are monitoring the outbreak and studying the best ways to prevent Zika infections through education campaigns, and the distribution of Zika prevention kits for pregnant women.

Much remains unknown about Zika, including whether the virus actually causes microcephaly in babies. Brazil said it has confirmed more than 640 cases of microcephaly, and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil is investigating more than 4,200 additional suspected cases of microcephaly.

At the CDC’s Dengue Branch in Puerto Rico, scientists are conducting research on the most effective mosquito control measures, and processing diagnostic tests from blood samples delivered daily to the laboratory.

Dr. Jorge Munoz, branch director, said in an interview they are capable of processing 400 to 500 blood samples a week. Scientists at the laboratory developed a triple test that can detect Zika, dengue and chikungunya – three different viruses carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito that is endemic in Puerto Rico.

The test will be crucial in helping to quickly sort out whether Zika was the cause of an infection or whether it was dengue and chikungunya, which also cause infection and illness.

“Puerto Rico is in a very different situation from the rest of the United States,” Frieden told the briefing.

Besides the high density of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, Puerto Rico has a lot of housing without window screens or air conditioning.

“The combination of those two things, when you add Zika in, means the likelihood of a very large number of cases,” Frieden said.

“In rest of the United States, we may see clusters,” he said. But if Zika behaves the way chikungunya and dengue have, “we will not see widespread transmission.”

(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; Editing by Bernard Orr)

Zika-hit Puerto Rico prepares to import all of its blood supplies

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – New guidelines barring the collection of blood in areas with outbreaks of the mosquito-borne Zika virus will be put to the test first in cash-strapped Puerto Rico, where health officials have two weeks to start importing the island’s supply.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said earlier this week that areas with active domestic transmission of Zika virus should stop collecting blood locally.

Puerto Rico has reported a small number of cases of local transmission, and U.S. health officials expect many thousands of residents to be infected once the mosquito season reaches its peak this summer.

Local health officials fear switching to imports could undermine the island’s voluntary donation network, which provides the bulk of its needs. The new guidelines will require Puerto Rico to obtain its entire supply from the continental United States at a cost of up to $100,000 a week, said Jose O. Alsina, vice president and chief operating officer of Puerto Rico’s Banco de Sangre de Servicios Mutuos, the island’s largest blood bank.

The U.S. territory is struggling with about $70 billion in debt and a 45 percent poverty rate. The island has already defaulted on some debt payments and its Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla has warned that the government is close to running out of money.

Alsina said its eight blood banks can’t afford to buy blood and make payroll, which includes about 400 drivers, phlebotomists, nurses and others. Blood bank officials are asking the government to help pay for the imports so they can maintain their infrastructure until local collection can resume. They also have asked for extra time to collect blood locally before having to import it all.

“Laying off people, even for a short time, would be devastating,” Alsina said.

The FDA said that it recognized the new rules would create hardships but stressed they were necessary to ensure safety. The Zika virus has been found in blood, and experts are concerned about the possibility that it could be transmitted through transfusion.

The FDA “is actively engaged in conversations with local health authorities and blood collection establishments in Puerto Rico in order to minimize the impact to the greatest extent possible,” said agency spokeswoman Tara Goodin.

The Zika outbreak began in Brazil last year and has spread rapidly through the Americas. The World Health Organization declared it a global health emergency earlier this month because the virus is suspected of causing microcephaly, a birth defect marked by unusually small heads that can cause developmental disabilities.

President Barack Obama has asked Congress to approve $1.8 billion in supplemental emergency funding to help combat the virus, with $250 million designated for Puerto Rico.

Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has told lawmakers some of the funds should finance the development of a blood screening test that he hoped could be available in six to 12 months.

TEMPORARY TEST

In the meantime, researchers at the Blood Systems Research Institute (BSRI), a unit of the blood and transfusion services company Blood Systems Inc, are evaluating the possibility of refining an existing Zika test to temporarily screen blood from Puerto Rico.

The test was developed nearly a decade ago by the CDC and has been used mainly for research purposes. Dr. Michael Busch, director of the BSRI said he believes his institute could refine the test and screen the Puerto Rican blood supply until a commercial test becomes available later this year.

Busch said the institute is in discussions with the FDA and believes it could scale up capacity to test Puerto Rican blood donations and submit an application for approval by the end of March. The CDC test could screen the average amount of blood Puerto Rico uses per week but not much more, Busch said.

The U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa also have been identified by CDC as areas with active Zika transmission, but both already import their blood supply from the continental United States and Hawaii, respectively, the FDA said.

U.S. health officials expect to see localized outbreaks in the southeastern United States later this year.

The further the virus spreads, the greater the area that will need to be supplied by Zika-free regions of the country, potentially squeezing overall blood supply.

OneBlood, which collects most of the blood used in Florida, said it will implement a screening test as soon as one is authorized by the FDA. The organization is in “close contact” with the FDA, CDC and Florida Department of health “should additional measures be needed,” said spokesman Pat Michaels.

(Reporting by Toni Clarke; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Lisa Girion)

Tropical Storm Erika Tracking to Hit Florida as Hurricane

While forecasters are calling Tropical Storm Erika “a very disorganized storm” they are also predicting it could reach hurricane status and strike Florida as early as Sunday.

“I think we’ll have a better idea of where Erika is going and what she is capable of, within the next 24 to 48 hours,because today, Erika has struggled mightily to get its act together,” said FOX 35 News Orlando Meteorologist Brooks Tomlin. “It’s a very disorganized tropical storm right now.”

The storm is expected to dump anywhere from 2 to 8 inches of rain on the Leeward Islands as it continues its western trek.  Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands will also be hit by the current path of the storm.

Florida officials are beginning to prepare for the storm’s possible arrival.

“This is the point where you should start planning whether you’re going to evacuate, where you’re going to go, how you’re going to communicate,” Kimberly Prosser, the director of Brevard County Emergency Management, told FoxNews.

Meanwhile in the Pacific, Tropical Storm Ignacio is gaining strength and is also likely to turn into a hurricane.  The storm is modeled to pass by Hawaii, although there is a small chance the storm will turn to strike the main island early next week.

Tropical Storm Danny Expected to Reach Hurricane Status

Tropical Storm Danny, located far out over the Atlantic, is likely to become a hurricane.

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) say the storm is maintaining winds of 50 m.p.h. and models are showing the storm strengthening into hurricane status within the next few days.

The storm’s track could take it into Puerto Rico.  If the storm continues to strengthen, it could strike Cuba as early as Wednesday.  The models say it’s too early to determine if the storm could impact the United States.

If the storm reaches hurricane status, it would be the first named storm of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season to reach that level.

The NHC said the storm is being driven west by a “subtropical ridge of high pressure” and that the conditions around the storm are beneficial to increasing strength.

The Atlantic hurricane season lasts until November 30th.

Puerto Rico Governor Says Country Can’t Pay Debt

While much of the world was focused on Greece and a potential default that could cause ripples throughout the European economy, another nation has announced they will be unable to pay their bills.

Puerto Rico governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla told the New York Times that the country’s economy was close to a “death spiral” and that it cannot pay the $72 billion it owes creditors.

“The debt is not payable,” García Padilla said. “There is no other option. I would love to have an easier option. This is not politics, this is math.”

“My administration is doing everything not to default,” García Padilla added. “But we have to make the economy grow,” he added. “If not, we will be in a death spiral.”

The self-governing U.S. commonwealth has been in a recession since 2006.

Gracia Padilla said that unless creditors come to the table and “share the sacrifices” made by the citizens of the country, it could be bad.

“If they don’t come to the table, it will be bad for them,” he told the Times.  “What will happen is that our economy will get into a worse situation and we’ll have less money to pay them. They will be shooting themselves in the foot.”

Because Puerto Rico is a territory and not a state, it cannot file for bankruptcy in the same manner that Detroit, Michigan did in 2013.

Tropical Storm Gonzalo Aiming For Puerto Rico

Tropical Storm Gonzalo is strengthening in the Caribbean and is on a collision course with Puerto Rico.

Gonzalo is packing sustained winds of 50 miles per hour and was moving west around 11 miles per hour.  Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center say Gonzalo could reach hurricane strength some time during the day Tuesday.

A hurricane watch is in effect for the U.S. and British Virgin Islands along with Puerto Rico.

The NHC expects at least 8 inches of rain possible for areas within the path of the storm bringing heavy flooding and landslides.  Some isolated areas could receive as much as 12 inches of rain.

Puerto Rico is home to 3.6 million people.

6.4 Earthquake Strikes Puerto Rico

Residents of Puerto Rico had a rude awakening in the middle of the night when a strong earthquake struck just off the coastline.

The 6.4 magnitude quake struck just after midnight local time about 35 miles north of city of Hatillo.  The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered 17 miles deep.

The quake did not result in a tsunami.

Witnesses during the quake viewed buildings swaying as far away as the capital city of San Juan, 61 miles from the epicenter.  Emergency services reported multiple calls of slight to moderate building damage and objects being thrown off walls and shelves.

The quake was the most significant to strike the area since a 5.4 magnitude quake in March 2011.

NOAA Confirms Tsunami On U.S. East Coast

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has issued a statement confirming a tsunami struck the East Coast of the United States on June 13.

More than 30 tide gauges along the East Coast plus Bermuda and Puerto Rico reported tsunami incidents. The highest peak of the waves were recorded in Newport, Rhode Island where the ocean rose one foot over sea level. Continue reading →