Scientists believe the virus attacks the baby’s brain, triggering microcephaly, a condition in which newborns have abnormally small heads, impaired vision and brain damage.
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Currently, DCHHS await four more travel-related virus test results to return from the CDC.
The CDC has warned pregnant women not to travel to about 25 countries.
The Zika virus has been detected in almost 30 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and many cases have been reported from other regions too, where the virus was carried by travelers. While the Zika virus in adults and children causes flu-like symptoms, the disease can attack the neurological development of a pregnant mother’s unborn child.
“We have been in close contact with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as infectious disease specialists with expertise regarding the Zika virus”.
Despite a recent spike in Zika cases, Hennessy has said there is “no risk” to the general public, as Zika is not able to be transferred from person to person. However, officials would not name the countries visited by the people who contracted the virus.
U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who incidentally was at a hearing today about President Barack Obama’s request for $1.8 billion to fight Zika, said in a statement she’s “deeply concerned” about the spread of the virus. But a third death linked to the virus has left researchers facing the possibility that it presents a more serious risk to those infected with it than previously thought.
“That’s why the department is doing absolutely everything they can to ensure that this woman receives all of the support and the care that she needs during this extremely hard period”.
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The mosquito-borne virus has reached what the World Health Organization characterizes as an emergency status. “And when I say local transmission – I mean one person who is infected with Zika and is bitten by a mosquito and that mosquito carries it to another person”, said Scott Harris, The Alabama Department of Public Health.
