Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, appeared on Fox News Sunday to say the U.S. will most likely see outbreaks of the Zika virus this summer.
Already, more than 350 cases of the virus have been reported to the CDC. Thus far, all of the cases reported in the states have been travel-associated cases, or as Dr. Fauci refers to them, "imported cases."
According to the federal official, the concern is that a person may bring a Zika-carrying mosquito back from their travels to the U.S., and that the insect will locally transmit the virus.
"It would not be surprising at all, if not likely, that we're going to see a bit of that because we've seen similar types of things happen with similar types of infections, like dengue," said Dr. Fauci. "We've been able to control it so that it doesn't become sustained or widespread, but the threat of having at least some local outbreak is likely."
To watch a clip of Dr. Fauci's announcement on Fox News Sunday, see the video below.
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