Philadelphia Health Officials Prepare For Eventual Arrival Of Zika Virus
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia health officials are paying close attention to Zika, as the virus begins to spread to North America.
Dozens of city Health Department staffers got together this week to hear the latest information on Zika, which has blown up in Central and South American and recently showed up in Florida.
Dr. Stacey A. Gorski, a professor of immunology at University of the Sciences says no one is panicking.
"They're just trying to collect more information," Gorski said. "I think that's been the biggest problem in this Zika outbreak, is trying to figure just exactly what's going on. What is the information that we still need."
Zika has not arrived in our area yet, but she's pretty sure that it will when the weather heats up this summer.
"Hopefully we'll have more information by then to understand what is going on," she said. "For most people it's not a very serious infection. The real concern, of course, is with pregnant women."
Officials say, Zika will no doubt will factor in the health departments strategy this spring when it begins applying larvicide to areas where mosquitoes lay their eggs.
