Major airlines have announced that they will allow customers concerned about the Zika virus to cancel or postpone their trips if they are ticketed to fly to areas affected by the infectious virus, USA Today reported Tuesday.
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And all major Brazilian dailies quoted Castro as saying the country is “badly losing the battle” against the Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits Zika, dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever. Although there is now no vaccine or treatment for the virus, the CDC recommended extra close monitoring of ultrasounds to check for birth defects, namely deformed heads, a sign of microcephaly.
Transmitted by the aggressive Aedes mosquito, the Zika virus has spread to at least 23 countries and will likely infect tens of millions of people in a few short years.
As of January 16 there have been a total of 13,808 confirmed cases in Colombia, which includes 890 pregnant women, plus an additional 2,611 suspected cases.
Even though cases of Zika have been sporadic in the United States, officials fear that it is just a matter of time before cases of the virus become more common.
Therefore, given the current situation where the spread of the virus is expanding, authorities are advising women not to get pregnant, or to at least to protect from mosquito bites. While scientists try to prove if Zika is the cause, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised pregnant women to reconsider travel to Brazil and 21 other countries and territories with outbreaks.
In Hawai’i, one case of Zika was reported when a mother gave birth to a child with microcephaly.
There is no medication or vaccine available to treat or stop the virus.
It was the first official acknowledgment that Obama is receiving updates on the virus, which is spreading throughout South and Central America and the Caribbean, and that the White House is working to formulate a response.
However, it may be harmful for pregnancies, as it’s been linked to birth defects – specifically, abnormally small heads (microcephaly).
The virus has until quite recently been reported in Africa, South Asia and Polynesia, but now it’s also being found in Central and South America.
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However, health officials warn these imported cases could easily result in the spread of the virus in the United States.
