There are many things that are unknown about Zika, including exactly how the virus is causing pregnant women to deliver babies suffering from microcephaly, which is a condition in which infants are born with smaller-than-average heads and poor brain development. The outbreak has prompted the CDC to issue travel warnings for countries affected by Zika, largely in the Americas, as information continues to emerge about the dangers of the mosquito-borne virus.
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The advisory has come before President Barack Obama is supposed to visit the country in a historic step to strengthen the ties between Cuba and United States. The same mosquito can also spread the Zika virus, although the Cuban government says there have been no reported cases of the disease in the country.
The post comes just one day before President Obama and his family board Air Force One for a three-day visit to the island nation.
Cuba has reported a new case of the Zika virus whether the virus was directly transmitted from a mosquito to a person.
People that do intend to travel to the country, which is about 90 miles south of Florida, should take measures to protect themselves from mosquito bites.
“The Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is spreading the virus, … will likely be increasingly abundant across much of the southern and eastern United States as the weather warms”, the research center said.
The Zika virus causes mild symptoms in most people that are infected, but pregnant women are at a higher risk because the virus can cause birth defects.
The Obama administration said that the virus, which has been deemed as a public health emergency by the World Health Organization, has not been a factor in the president’s travel decisions and isn’t expected to be in the future.
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Garin said the travel alert was “highly possible” since the patient tested positive for the virus while visiting the Philippines.
