Of the other eight women, two had miscarriages, two aborted their fetuses after MRIs and ultrasounds showed evidence of brain malformation, two had healthy babies, and two other women are still pregnant with apparently healthy babies. One of the nine women gave birth to a child with severe microcephaly, it said. Health officials suspect the virus may have led to such a severe case of microcephaly as to have caused the miscarriages, but were unable to confirm that theory.
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Director-General Margaret Chan of the World Health Organization warned that the Zika virus outbreak might gets worse before it gets better, and that means Brazil may continue to see more babies born with microcephaly, reports Reuters.
Zika is caused by a virus spread by the bite of an infected mosquito species that is not found in Montana. The report highlighted two cases in which women contracted Zika after having sex with symptomatic men. The woman, who is in her 30s, started experiencing symptoms when she was about 11 to 12 weeks along in her pregnancy.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, symptoms are usually mild and include fever, rash, joint pain and red, itchy eyes.
It was only six weeks ago that the CDC announced its first travel advisory for parts of South and Central America, and the Caribbean, in relation to Zika.
Tom Frieden said Puerto Rico is clearly the most affected area, with the potential for hundreds of thousands of cases of the virus. Among those who have expressed reluctance is famed US soccer goalkeeper Hope Solo, who said Thursday she may not join her teammates in Brazil due to concerns about Zika.
The findings suggest that sexual transmission of the virus might be more common than previously reported, the CDC said.
The blood test is for people with symptoms of Zika who have traveled to areas where the virus is being transmitted or otherwise meet requirements for testing.
One pregnant woman reported symptoms of Zika virus infection in the third trimester of pregnancy, and she delivered a healthy infant.
Pregnant women who have potentially been exposed also may require closer monitoring throughout the pregnancy. Until now, medical researchers had never seen a mosquito-borne disease that is sexually-transmitted, Frieden said.
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There have been nine pregnant women in the United States infected with the Zika virus – and the number is likely to rise. CDC’s travel guidance for the Olympics covers a variety of health and safety topics, including information about the Zika virus outbreak now occurring in Brazil.
