Although more study must be done, the Zika virus has been linked to a serious birth defect, microcephaly, a condition where the size of the head is much smaller than other babies of the same age or gestation.
Advertisement
The virus has been linked with microcephaly, which can leave affected newborns with unusually small heads and abnormal brain development.
Scientists are now investigating potential links between Zika and microcephaly – a congenital condition which causes abnormal brain growth.
Meanwhile, women in Brazil and Colombia have been warned to take precautions against mosquito bites, and other women not to get pregnant until the effect of Zika on unborn children is better understood. Typically, an infection with Zika virus causes fever, headache, conjunctivitis (pink eye), and rash, along with joint and muscle pain.
It also reported that the person infected is a 42-year-old woman with no history of previous travel during the incubation period of the virus.
The CDC has cautioned pregnant women not to travel to these areas as Zika has been suspected to lead to birth defects.
Common in Africa and Asia since its first outbreak in Uganda in 1947, the mosquito-borne virus started spreading widely in the Western Hemisphere only last May, the New York Times reported.
It does “not spread directly from person to person”, the statement said. In the USA, residents of Florida, Illinois, Texas and Hawaii have tested positive for the virus, and a baby in Hawaii was born with microcephaly.
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. “It’s incredibly naive for a government to ask women to postpone getting pregnant in a context such as Colombia, where more than 50% of pregnancies are unplanned and across the region where sexual violence is prevalent”, Women’s Link Worldwide member Monica Roa told the BBC.
The Zika virus has been confirmed in 22 countries. It spread to South America in 2014, before reaching Mexico and the Caribbean a year ago.
Doctor Albert Ko, an infectious disease doctor at the Yale School of Public Health, traveled to Brazil in December to help with the outbreak investigation. There was no chance a mosquito could have bitten them and spread it to others.
Though now there are no vaccines to protect against Zika virus, the National Institutes of Health has made this an initiative.
CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP) The U.S. Virgin Islands is reporting its first case of the mosquito-borne Zika virus.
Advertisement
Women trying to become pregnant should consult with their healthcare professional before traveling to these areas and strictly follow steps to prevent mosquito bites during the trip.
