Health workers fumigate in an attempt to eradicate the mosquito which transmits the Zika virus on January 28, 2016 in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil.
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The Health Department has tested 830 pregnant women for Zika – 10 have laboratory evidence of Zika; seven are presumptive positive; and three have been confirmed, according to a health department press release issued Tuesday. It used to be that a pregnant patient or her sexual partner had to travel to an area in the current Zika danger zones and develop symptoms before the CDC would unequivocally recommend testing.
According to Reuters, U.S. health officials have warned that the virus can be transmitted through unprotected sex with an infected female partner.
Health officials in Barcelona meanwhile said a woman has given birth to a boy with microcephaly associated with the Zika virus – the first detected case in Spain. Twelve babies have been born in the USA with Zika-related defects and another six pregnancies were miscarried or aborted because of severe defects.
Typically, the Zika virus doesn’t cause serious illness.
All travelers to areas where Zika virus is active should be aware and take steps to protect themselves from mosquito bites (e.g., wear long sleeves and trousers, use EPA-approved insect repellant, etc.).
He said: “It is hard to accurately predict how many child-bearing women may be at risk from Zika because a large proportion of cases show no symptoms”.
Many people infected with Zika virus won’t have symptoms or will only have mild symptoms.
Up to 1.65 million childbearing women in Central and South America could become infected by the Zika virus by the end of the first wave of the epidemic, scientists have estimated. So far, there have been no confirmed cases of a Zika infection from a mosquito bite in the U.S., although officials expect mosquitoes will start spreading it in southern states.
To enhance the definitive diagnosis in expectant women with Zika virus infection, the agency has recommended extension of the timeframe for real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) testing to 14 days, which also includes rRT-PCR testing for a few asymptomatic pregnant women.
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Due to its risk to newborn infants, Zika was declared a global public health emergency by the World Health Organization earlier this year.
