The full-year average for the country is 169 cases.
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“In a crisis like the Zika outbreak, the lack of sexual education is exposed”, Roa said.
“Zika was really bad here from February to July and then all but disappeared in August. We just don’t know”. Still, officials here acknowledge the rise.
The first two cases of Zika were found in people who visited Colombia in December, while the third involved a person who travelled to Venezuela last month.
Brazilian officials have linked the tropical illness to birth defects. Global health bodies say it is not yet scientifically established, but they are on alert.
Pregnant women in any trimester should avoid travel to any areas where Zika virus has been reported, the CDC warned.
Experts said the best way to combat the disease and avoid an outbreak is by eradicating mosquitoes and wipe out places where they breed.
In its most recent update on Friday, the CDC noted that travelers to areas where cases of Zika virus infection have been recently confirmed may also be at risk of being infected with dengue or chikungunya viruses.
“We are doing this because I believe it’s a good way to communicate the risk, to tell people that there could be serious consequences”, he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Eduardo Espinoza the Deputy Minister of Health announced that the government would like to suggest all women who are of fertile age take steps in planning pregnancies and avoid becoming pregnant this year as well as next.
“We were very lucky”.
“PAHO alert also recommends that countries in the Americas prepare their healthcare facilities to respond to a potential increase in demand for specialized care for neurological syndromes”, the organization said.
“It’s not simply about telling women not to get pregnant”.
“This is an emerging situation, it’s an emerging virus and things are definitely going to change”, she said. Currently, a pregnant woman in Berkeley is being tested for the virus.
The Centers for Disease Control is urging pregnant women to consider postponing trips to the destinations – most of which are in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The virus doesn’t cause major symptoms to healthy people.
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Fans from all over the world are expected to converge on Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympics.
