Felipe Dana/AP ImagesMicrocephaly is a severe neurological defect that has recently been linked with the ZIka virus.
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Last week a baby born with microcephaly in Hawaii became the first newborn to test positive for the Zika virus on U.S. soil.
MORE: What is the Zika virus – and should we worry about “brain shrinking” bug?
Many people have expressed concern about the 2016 Olympics which are due to begin in Rio de Janeiro this summer, maintaining it could be a huge risk to public health.
The mother was reportedly living in Brazil in May 2015 and her baby acquired the infection in the womb. American Airlines says it will give refunds to pregnant women who were planning to travel to parts of Central America.
European officials have said they expect to see cases of the Zika virus among travelers, but say local transmission is unlikely. “The Department is passing along the CDC recommendation that people check the CDC website with travel advisories to areas where the Zika virus is found and take those precautionary measures”.
The World Health Organisation say the virus has affected thousands across the Americas since past year and is expected to spread further across the region, where the population has not been exposed to the disease and so lacks immunity.
The New York State Department of Health reported that two Zika patients have been confirmed in New York City, one in Orange County, one in Nassau County, and one in upstate Monroe County. The most recent countries to join that list are the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic, the AP reported Tuesday.
“Even some of the countries we were considering that weren’t on the travel ban list, I felt like by the time of our trip in March, it seemed like the list was rapidly growing”, Okoye said.
The mosquito-borne disease isn’t contagious, only passing from person to person if a mosquito bites the blood of an infected person and then bites another.
Travel health experts had originally just advised pregnant women to reconsider travel plans to affected countries.
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“This warning is issued because the Zika infection is now in an expansion phase”, said Luis Fernando Correa, head of the ministry’s Office of Emergency Management and Disaster.
