“But since this is a time of year when people travel to warmer climates and countries where Zika virus is found, we are urging residents, especially pregnant women, to check all health advisories before traveling and take preventive measures when traveling to affected countries”.
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The virus, which is carried by and contracted from mosquitoes, has been sweeping across countries in South America and the Caribbean, bringing with it increased illness and possibly a meteoric rise in birth defects.
Brazilian health officials believe Zika is the cause of a spike in the number of babies born with microencephaly, a condition where a baby’s brain and head don’t develop to a healthy size, leading to brain damage.
The WHO’s regional office – the Pan American Health Organization – says the type of mosquito provides one explanation for the virus’s rapid spread.
Some U.S. travelers have been infected overseas with Zika and other viruses spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, but there have been no cases of local infection with Zika in the U.S.so far.
In 80% of cases, no symptoms were ever reported.
In Brazil there have been 3893 cases of microcephaly, most in the north. In six cases, the mothers were infected with Zika.
Samoa has reported three cases, with one being exported to New Zealand.
If the epidemic was still going on in August, when Brazil is due to host the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, then pregnant women should either stay away or be obsessive about covering up against mosquito bites, she said. The CDC also recommended that women who have recently traveled to these places during their pregnancy be screened and monitored for the virus.
While the likelihood that active virus transmission will eventually occur in the US, that does not mean that there will be a large outbreak in America.
Currently, there is no specific treatment as the virus is usually mild, prompting El Salvador to advise women to avoid pregnancy until 2018 in an attempt of quelling the virus.
Prof Rodrigues said the virus could potentially affect areas where dengue fever is widespread which could have implications for pregnant women travelling to tropical and sub-tropical climates.
Brazil has experienced the largest outbreak of Zika in Latin America. The Aedes mosquito also carries dengue and chikungunya viruses. PAHO advice is to ensure all containers that can hold even small amounts of water should be emptied and cleaned to prevent mosquitoes breeding.
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Oxitec says its proprietary OX513A mosquito succeeded in reducing wild larvae of the Aedes mosquito by 82 percent in an area of Brazil where 25 million of the transgenic insects were released between April and November.
