Only one such case has been reported so far, but the details are worrying enough to prompt a new Zika warning from scientists.
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Three pregnant woman in Florida have tested positive for the Zika virus after traveling from outside the USA, the Florida Department of Health said on its website Wednesday.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the virus is being actively transmitted in 30 countries, mostly in the Americas.
Director General Margaret Chan said on Tuesday Brazil is doing a good job tackling the Zika virus and ensuring that the Olympic games it will host in August will be safe for athletes and visitors. Symptoms are typically mild and last several days to a week.
There have been tow additional blood samples sent to be tested for the Zika virus, but the minister said there were no results as yet.
However, the danger of dengue has been overtaken in recent months by Zika, which is transmitted by the same mosquito and is thought to be behind a sharp rise in the cases of microcephaly among newborns. The World Health Organization has declared the spread of Zika a global health emergency.
While sexual transmission of the virus happens, it’s unusual; the primary way for people to get infected is through mosquito bites. The women had acquired the virus while traveling outside the United States, according to the Florida Department of Health.
In response to a question over the link between Zika and microcephaly, which causes babies to be born with unusually small heads and brain damage, Chan said the evidence in Brazil pointed to the disease as a possible cause. New figures from Brazil’s Health Ministry show that the Zika virus outbreak has not caused as many confirmed cases of a rare brain defect as first feared. The WHO had previously warned that the virus’s spread could be “explosive”, infecting up to four million people.
Colombia has reported more than 37,000 cases of Zika including 6,356 in pregnant women but has yet to have a confirmed microcephaly case linked to the virus.
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It involved a 20-year-old woman from the city of Salvador whose first three months of pregnancy had seemed normal. That’s to prevent mosquitoes from biting them and possibly spreading Zika to others in the U.S.
