“Neither the baby nor the mother are infectious and there was never a risk of transmission in Hawaii”, Hawaii health officials said in statement yesterday.
Advertisement
Following the cases reported from Texas and Hawaii, Zika virus cases are now starting to be reported from other parts of USA, including Florida and IL.
The Zika virus, a mosquito-borne disease that has a possible link to birth defects, has been spreading, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week there are “a dozen or so” cases in the United States.
There have been 3,893 cases of microcephaly since October, when the authorities first noticed a surge, up from 3,500 in last week’s report.
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.
The guideline announcement came as two pregnant women in Illinois were reported on Tuesday to have contracted the disease, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
The virus, which spreads to people from mosquito bites, can be transmitted from a mother to her unborn child.
Researchers have linked the zika virus to the increase in cases, especially in Brazil, of babies being born with abnormally small heads and partially developed brains, a birth defect known as microcephaly.
In an attempt to reduce the spread of Zika, along with other unsafe viruses such as Dengue Fever, scientists were tasked with developing genetically modified and sterile mosquitoes that they hope will curb insect populations in infested areas.
Common symptoms can last up to a week and include fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis. But infections have exploded recently in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Some 90% of these cases have been recorded in Brazil’s northeastern states, where the country’s Zika outbreak – the largest on record – is most pervasive. What steps can be taken to relive or cure this virus? Pregnant women living in unaffected regions are encouraged not to travel to tropical areas where cases of the virus have been reported.
Advertisement
The Mosquito-borne Zika virus is sweeping through South America – and could infect hundreds of thousands of people, governments have warned.
