The Zika virus is transmitted by Aedes species mosquitoes, which also spread dengue and chikungunya viruses.
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The Hawaii State Department of Health said Friday that a baby born in an Oahu hospital with microcephaly – an unusually small head and brain – had been infected with the Zika virus, which is believed to have caused the same damage in thousands of babies in Brazil in recent months.
In reporting the laboratory finding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the state health department said the child’s mother probably had a Zika infection while living in Brazil last spring. That alert warned pregnant women to avoid traveling to Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala and French Guiana.
23 photo shows another baby in Brazil, who was born with microcephaly. The condition can be caused by genetics, alcohol use during pregnancy or infections such as rubella.
Dr. Glatter says Zika virus started in Africa in the 1940s but there have never been reported outbreaks until now. It’s a cousin of dengue virus but only causes symptoms in about one in four or one in five people. Brazil saw an outbreak of Zika in 2015, with an estimated 500,000 to 1.5 million residents infected.
The Hawaiian case was reported Saturday, a day after US health officials issued a travel warning to 14 countries and territories in the Caribbean and Latin America where Zika cases have been recorded.
Fewer than 150 cases of microencephaly were seen in Brazil throughout 2014. Then CDC and other experts found evidence of the virus in babies diagnosed with microcephaly.
A CDC epidemiologist recently predicted Zika would follow the same pattern that dengue has, with local transmission during hot weather in tropical parts of the country, including Florida, the Gulf Coast and Hawaii.
It added that neither mother nor child is still infected and that there is no danger to anyone in Hawaii. “Mosquitos can carry serious diseases, as we know too well with our current dengue outbreak and it is imperative that we all Fight the Bite by reducing mosquito breeding areas, avoiding places with mosquitos, and applying repellant as needed”.
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“We are saddened by the events that have affected this mother and her newborn”, Hawaii State Epidemiologist Sarah Park said in a statement. “This case further emphasizes the importance of the CDC travel recommendations released today”. All the cases are in the area of Port-au-Prince, the overcrowded capital.
