“Pregnant women who must travel to one of these areas should talk to their doctor or other healthcare provider first and strictly follow steps to avoid mosquito bites during the trip”, the statement noted.
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“It’s a dynamic situation and we are just going to have to wait and see how it all plays out”, he said.
Petersen said USA experience to date with similar mosquito-borne diseases like dengue and chikungunya suggests that facets of the North American lifestyle – living in air-conditioned homes and dwellings with screens on windows and doors – should limit how much the virus would spread here. Park said the case underscores the importance of the travel recommendations the CDC issued Friday for pregnant women and women who might become pregnant.
Over a dozen cases of Zika have been reported in the mainland United States – including a recent case in Texas – but so far only in people who have recently traveled to infected areas. “That is, we now have cases of the virus being transmitted by mosquito bites that happened in Ecuadoran territory”, she told a press conference. Symptoms usually clear up within a few days.
Four of those cases have recently been analysed, showing that babies were infected with the Zika virus while they were in the womb and that it reached their brains.
Brazil’s Health Ministry says 3,530 babies have been born with microcephaly in the country since October.
In the Hawaii case, a doctor recognised the possibility of a Zika infection in the newborn baby and alerted state officials, the health department said.
The Center For Disease Control (CDC) recommended that pregnant women and those considering pregnancy reconsider traveling to any areas that contain an active Zika virus transmission.
A CDC news release added: “CDC scientists tested samples provided by Brazilian health authorities from two pregnancies that ended in miscarriage and from two infants with diagnosed microcephaly who died shortly after birth”.
At the same time, Brazil noticed a startling increase in the numbers of microcephaly cases.
Nevertheless, Hawaii is undergoing an outbreak of dengue fever, and the same mosquitoes that transmit it also can transmit Zika.
According to the Center For Disease Control, about one in five people infected with the Zika virus actually develop the disease and become sick.
Reportedly, the woman and her new-born baby are not infectious, themselves, and can not spread the Zika virus to others.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization is reportedly conducting research to determine how Zika affects fetuses. Since May, more than 1.5 million Brazilians have been infected.
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Common symptoms can last up to a week and include fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis.
