On Friday, the World Health Organization confirmed that the strain of Zika virus in Cape Verde, just off the western coast of Africa, is the same strain that is spreading in Brazil.
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In the past, the CDC publicly reported on only those women who had both positive lab tests as well as symptoms.
But they also are tracking 157 other pregnant women across the country. Another 122 pregnant women with Zika have been reported in US territories including Puerto Rico. The new reporting standard includes women who show no symptoms but have lab evidence of possible exposure.
This is the first time the agency had disclosed the number of infected pregnant women in the US and and its territories. Pregnant women are closely monitored given the risks that come with the virus.
“It is likely that the South American, Caribbean and Polynesian populations had no prior immunity to the virus, so a high proportion of people who are bitten by infected mosquitos caught the disease”, said Dr Anna Checkley, of the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, University College London Hospitals.
“What we’ve seen is a little over 500 cases of Zika in the continental United States, and they all appear to be travel related”, Obama said.
It can cause microcephaly, a birth defect, marked by a small head size and can lead to developmental problems in infants. But officials say recent research suggests that women do not necessarily have to have symptoms to have their pregnancies affected.
The virus is thought to cause serious birth defects.
Officials have said only about 20 percent of people with Zika display common symptoms, such as fever, rash, red eyes and joint and muscle pain, Reuters reported.
In Washington, President Barack Obama received a briefing on Zika from members of his public health team.
President Obama is trying to work with congress to provide more than 1.5 billion dollars to be used for vaccine development, faster diagnostic testing and other preventative measures. “To the extent that that’s something that we think is important, then this is a pretty modest investment for us to get those assurances”, Obama said.
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“We’ve got to get moving”, Mr Obama told reporters after meeting top health officials in the Oval Office on Friday. Brazil, the country hardest by Zika to date, has confirmed more than 1,300 cases of microcephaly linked to Zika.
