The new countries where the CDC is cautioning travelers to avoid mosquito bites are these: Barbados, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin, Guyana, Cape Verde, and Samoa.
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Last week’s alert included Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Suriname and Venezuela.
Still, there are significant dangers for pregnant women because the virus has been linked to congenital microcephaly, a serious and often fatal birth defect in which the fetal brain fails to develop properly.
As concerns over the virus’ effects continues to grow, the CDC today expanded a travel advisory for pregnant women, advising them to reconsider travel to any country where the Zika virus is being transmitted from mosquito to person.
If there are signs of an infection or there are other reasons to believe the fetus is affected, ultrasounds should be considered to monitor the baby’s development, the CDC advised. Pregnant women who must travel to one of these areas should talk to their doctor or other healthcare professional first and strictly follow steps to avoid mosquito bites during the trip.
Common signs to look out for include a slight fever, rash, conjuctivitis, headache as well as joint and muscle pain.
Patton said the specific types of mosquitoes, Aedes Aegypti and Aedes Albopictus, that are known to carry the Zika Virus are not in South Dakota.
World Health Organisation (WHO) spokesman Christian Lindmeier said there were 3,893 suspected microcephaly cases in Brazil, which included 49 deaths.
Zika is caused by a mosquito-borne virus.
“If they decide to get pregnant then take the necessary measures to protect mothers during their pregnancy they cover a large part of their bodies so they are not exposed to the mosquito which could cause Zika and a child with microcephaly”.
A statement from Public Health England said those infected had recently traveled through South America, but it is not clear if the people involved have since returned to the UK.
“Studies are under way to evaluate the risks for Zika virus transmission during pregnancy, the spectrum of outcomes associated with congenital infection and the possible association between Zika virus infection and Guillain-Barré syndrome”, they wrote.
On Friday, Brazilian researchers writing in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report provided some details on 35 infants with microcephaly born to women who lived or travelled to areas where the virus circulates. Cases of microcephaly have risen twenty fold in Brazil since the outbreak began, affecting 3500 babies. Authorities have also advised pregnant women to not travel to countries where the virus is spreading.
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The WHO’s Mr Lindmeier said “about 20 countries in the Americas which are reporting Zika cases, and about 10 in Africa, Asia and the Pacific”, but the biggest outbreaks were in Brazil, Colombia and elsewhere in Latin America.
