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Zika: Colombia cases in pregnant women double in a week

The only possible advice experts can dispense is to use mosquito repellents and destroy breeding grounds of mosquitoes because a vaccine may not become available for years.

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The Illinois Department of Public Health officials said the case was confirmed on Thursday but declined to provide further details.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the Zika virus is “spreading explosively” in the Americas and can infect up to four million people worldwide.

Brazil has been worst affected by the outbreak, followed by Colombia, but more than 20 other countries have seen cases.

World Health Organization predicts there could be up to 4 million cases this year. It has reported around 3,700 cases of microcephaly strongly suspected to be related to Zika.

The mosquito-borne illness may cause birth defects.

A health worker fumigates against the Aedes Aegypti mosquito in Cali, Colombia.

While no outbreaks have occurred in the US, 31 Americans have tested positive for the Zika infection, which they contracted while traveling overseas, USA Today reported. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has advised pregnant women not to travel to the affected countries.

The Health Ministry of Peru held fumigation campaigns to prevent the spreading Zika virus, according to local press. Jamaican officials are investigating the source of the virus. “We need to take actions now”, Chan said, referring to the condition called microcephaly in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and brains that have not developed properly.

Colombia has also seen a rise in the number of patients diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder which can cause paralysis.

The Zika virus is transmitted by bites by the Aedes species of mosquito and has been linked to microcephaly in thousands of babies in Brazil.

The Zika virus has made its way to Georgia and now the Coastal Health District is issuing a warning to keep everyone safe.

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The most common symptoms of Zika virus infection are mild fever and skin rash, usually accompanied by conjunctivitis, muscle or joint pain, and general malaise that begins 2-7 days after the bite of an infected mosquito.

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