A total of 279 pregnant women with confirmed or suspected Zika virus infections are being monitored by doctors in the United States and Puerto Rico, federal health officials said on Friday. But they recently added that symptoms are not necessary to say that their pregnancy is affected by the virus.
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New studies have shed light on how the Zika virus – which can cause serious birth defects – may be transmitted from infected mother to unborn child. Symptoms include fever, rash and joint pains. These cases will be compiled in a new Zika pregnancy registry that will be updated every Thursday. But officials say the figures are not comparable, as a new reporting system is being used.
On Friday, President Barack Obama said Congress has “got to get moving” on a Zika funding package to implement the USA government’s Zika prevention strategy, the Associated Press reported.
President Barack Obama has criticised the United States Congress for failing to back his request for a $1.9bn (£1.25bn) fund to combat the spreading Zika virus. Health experts have also warned of an increase in cases during summer months, when mosquitoes are more prevalent.
CDC’s Dr. Margaret Honei said this means there is a need to cast “a broad net to make sure we are monitoring all pregnant women who may be at risk for poor outcomes associated with Zika”.
Zika virus map has proven that the outbreak quickly spreads beyond America. Some were infected by sexual transmission, an alarming reminder that direct mosquito bites aren’t the only way to contract the disease.
The women in the continental USA have all been infected through travel, but Puerto Rico has an ongoing outbreak and the CDC says local outbreaks can be expected in parts of the US once mosquito season starts up.
So far, nearly all the Zika cases in the continental US have been in people returning from countries where Zika is prevalent, such as Brazil, with a small number attributed to sexual transmission by such travelers. The funding bill with the most support right now sets aside a little more than $1 billion.
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Tests show an outbreak of Zika virus on the African island chain of Cape Verde is of the same strain as the one blamed for birth abnormalities in Brazil, the World Health Organization said on Friday.
