Zika Virus

"On Saturday, it was total energy, millions of bees foraging, pollinating, making honey for winter," beekeeper Juanita Stanley said. "Today, it stinks of death. Maggots and other insects are feeding on the honey and the baby bees who are still in the hives. It's heartbreaking."

Stanley, co-owner of Flowertown Bee Farm and Supply in Summerville, South Carolina, said she lost 46 beehives -- more than 3 million bees -- in mere minutes after the spraying began Sunday morning.

Most of those infected were foreign construction workers, and all lived or worked within the same region of the country, said the health ministry.

None were known to have travelled to Zika-affected areas recently. Thirty-four people have fully recovered but seven are still in hospital.

Zika generally has mild effects but has been linked to severe birth defects.

The pop sensation was met with backlash after a since-deleted Snapchat video she shared on Friday night was labeled as insensitive towards the outbreak currently affecting Brazil. In the post, Demi's motherDianna Hart can be seen telling the camera, "Everybody down in Rio gonna get the Zika virus." Her statement is then met with laughter from Lovato. 

A hashtag retaliating against the "Confident" songstress quickly surfaced, #DemiLovatoIsOverParty, which detailed fans negative feelings toward the Snapchat vid. 

Doctors at the Spallanzani Institute for Infectious Diseases in Rome said it pointed to the possibility that the virus was reproducing itself in the male genital tract.

The infection is suspected of leading to thousands of babies being born with underdeveloped brains.

Zika is spread by mosquitos.

The outbreak was declared a global public health emergency by the World Health Organisation in February.

Brazilian researchers from Recife, the city at the centre of the Zika epidemic, describe seven suspect cases in the journal The BMJ.

The virus, which has been spreading across much of the Americas and has deterred some people from visiting the Olympic host country, is already known to cause a serious baby brain defect.

Mothers-to-be are urged to be vigilant.

Scientists found all three offered protection in tests on rhesus monkeys.

Zika has been deemed a public health emergency, because it can cause serious birth defects.

Teams around the world are working to design a vaccine that can be given to people, but it is likely to be years before any is ready for widespread use.

More than 60 countries and territories now have continuing transmission of Zika, which is carried by mosquitoes.

So far, cases outside of Latin America and the Caribbean, where the virus is prevalent, have been spread by travel to that region or sexual transmission.

The four Florida cases mean US mosquitoes may be carrying the virus.

Zika causes only a mild illness in most people but the virus has been linked to severe brain defects in newborns.

The Florida department of health said "a high likelihood exists that four cases are the result of local transmission", centred on one small area just north of downtown Miami.

 Researchers collected 500 mosquitoes and found the virus in three pools of mosquitoes. Each pool contains between one and ten mosquitoes. The presence of the virus in these mosquitoes does not mean they can transmit the virus.

Bailey-Cole, the Commonwealth 100 metres champion, told the Gleaner newspaper he discovered he had contracted the disease by chance.

"I didn't know I had it (Zika) until I went to get a haircut. After cleaning up, my girlfriend realised a bump was on my neck, which was a lymph node," Bailey-Cole said.

"I was experiencing back pains and muscle soreness, but I thought it was just soreness from the exercises I was doing. It is very disappointing."

According to RNZI, the latest report from Department of Health epidemiologist Scott Anesi shows there are now 654 suspectedcases and 23 confirmed cases of Zika.

The worst hit area is the Ituau district with 16 percent of the population suspected to have the virus.

Teams from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working with the Department of Health in response, prevention and the distribution of Zika kits to pregnant mothers.