In the United States, a total of 31 cases of Zika have been documented since previous year, all involving people who were infected while they were out of the country. The World Health Organization said it expects about 3 million to 4 million cases of the Zika virus in 2016.
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This is the first reported, laboratory-confirmed case in a traveler returning to Virginia, sometimes referred to as an “imported” case, the department said. “So right now the risk of contracting the Zika virus from a mosquito bite in Pennsylvania is not a possibility”.
There is a travel advisory for Africa, Southeast Asia and Southern America.
On Friday, the CDC included the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic to that list. The Zika virus can lead to birth defects.
Thirty-one Americans have been diagnosed with a Zika infection.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned the virus is “spreading explosively”. Officials say doctors should ask pregnant women about their travel and certain symptoms, and, if warranted, test them for an infection with the Zika virus.
Castrodale said one group that doesn’t need to worry about travel in Zika infested regions are women who aren’t pregnant now but wish to become pregnant in the future.
Pregnant women beware. While contraction of Zika rarely results in hospitalization, the virus is linked to a birth defect, microcephaly, which causes babies to develop abnormally small heads.
The disease is like malaria, and West Nile virus: it is only transmitted via mosquito bites, and in the case of the Zika virus, the type of mosquito that transmits it does not live in Canada.
The virus which has symptoms ranging from fever and rash to joint pain and red eyes is something medical providers will be watching closely during this travel season and as the summer months approach.
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Dr. John Goldman said, “If you are pregnant however, if you get the virus, there’s a significant chance it will have a devastating effect on the baby”.
