So far, no Zika case has been confirmed anywhere in Asia.
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A health official said Saturday Colombia has now recorded 41 cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome that appear to be linked to Zika.
“The concern is what’s being seen in Brazil with the cases of the pregnant women and babies born with the small heads or microcephaly”, Huang said.
While Zika virus has been around for a while, she said, the link with the birth defect microcephaly is new.
If a female partner is at risk of getting pregnant, or is already pregnant, condom use is advised for a male traveller for 28 days after his return from a Zika transmission area if he had no symptoms of unexplained fever and rash.
This article was written by The Associated Press.
Texas has reported two confirmed travel-related cases of Zika virus disease in the state, both in the southeast Texas area.
Dr. Kurt Barnhart, chair of the Pennsylvania section of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said the virus isn’t to be taken lightly, but isn’t as serious as many fear.
The WA Health Department said yesterday the WHO committee would recommend whether to declare a “public health emergency of worldwide concern”, which was last done with Ebola in West Africa.
Although the Zika virus was first documented in 1947, it caused only sporadic and small outbreaks of illness until recently.
The Zika virus is terrorizing Latin America and the Carribean, and is expected to enter North America.
The CDC urged pregnant women to postpone travel to Bolivia, Brazil, Cape Verde, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Saint Martin, Suriname, Samoa, Venezuela and Puerto Rico. The Zika virus has not been considered a major threat because 4 in 5 people infected by a mosquito do not develop symptoms at all.
But the World Health Organization (WHO) has cautioned that more investigation and research are needed to understand the relationship between microcephaly in babies and the Zika virus.
According to the CDC, the Zika virus is now in more than 20 countries and spreading fast because of the widespread presence of the Aedes mosquitoes – the same mosquito that spreads dengue – and the fact that people in the region have no natural immunity.
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Some Hongkongers planning to visit the affected area in South America said they are reconsidering their plans.
