The dangers to non-pregnant sufferers are minimal, with symptoms including fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, skin rash and conjunctivitis. Those who go ahead and travel anyway have been cautioned to take care to avoid mosquito bites, which are a risk both indoors and outdoors, mostly during the daytime.
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Brazil is a hot spot for virus more than 3,000 babies have been born in recent months with several birth defects linked to Zika.
In an attempt to reduce the spread of Zika, along with other unsafe viruses such as Dengue Fever, scientists were tasked with developing genetically modified and sterile mosquitoes that they hope will curb insect populations in infested areas.
The warning came last week after US health officials confirmed three cases in Florida of the Zika virus – a mosquito-borne disease linked with an epidemic of birth defects in Brazil. Any pregnant woman reporting such travel and Zika symptoms during or within two weeks of her travel should be tested for the virus.
The truly scary part of Zika for expectant mothers who test positive for Zika is that there is no treatment for the virus.
During 2014, less than 150 cases of microcephaly were reported in the country.
The CDC also suggested that pregnant women wear long-sleeved shirts and long trousers; remain in screened or air-conditioned rooms; use a bed net when sleeping in an area exposed to the outdoors; and drain standing water inside and outside the home.
Last week, the United States warned pregnant women to avoid travel to 14 countries and territories in the Caribbean and Latin America because of the virus.
“We are saddened by the events that have affected this mother and her newborn”, she said.
“Few cases, mild infection, nobody thought much of it”, Dr. Weinbaum said.
The woman contracted the virus while traveling in Latin America. The condition can cause babies to be born with abnormally small heads and is tied to incomplete brain development. Other cases have surfaced in Texas, Florida and IL – all are travel related.
The two IL cases involved pregnant women who traveled to countries where Zika virus is found, according to the health department.
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The problem is on the rise in Brazil and the investigation by the health ministry officials of the country has revealed that there is a link between the sudden Ziku virus outbreak and the brain disease in Brazil. So far, they say, there is no evidence that the virus has begun to spread locally in the U.S.
