2nd pregnant Australian woman tests positive for Zika virus

CDC officials have made clear that they expect the Zika virus to spread deeper into the US because of the high frequency of travel between the USA and affected countries in Central and South America. The connection has yet to be scientifically proven, but the CDC has pointed to strong evidence of a link between the two and called on pregnant women to avoid travel to 26 countries and territories in the Americas with active outbreaks.

Most people don’t experience anything, but scientists have been concerned about the virus’ possible link to serious birth defects in the newborns of infected moms in Brazil.

Brazil has reported almost 4000 suspected cases of microcephaly and the World Health Organisation has declared the virus an global health emergency.

And that is not the end of the matter, Brazil has also reached out to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) over vaccine deals that will safeguard the peoples of Brazil from little-known new diseases like Zika.

The risk of contracting the virus through human contact is low, so the bureau is not anxious about the spread of the disease in Hong Kong, Ko said, but added that authorities are monitoring the situation closely. In this case, the woman had recovered from her illness, so her blood was tested for Zika antibodies. Yolo does not have a public health lab to test for Zika.

Asked if health officials couldn’t instead use unspent money that Congress allocated for Ebola in West Africa, Frieden said those remaining dollars are committed to ensuring the remnants of that outbreak are stamped out.

Even if abnormalities are detected, however, there is no vaccine for Zika or a way to address the potential problems posed by the virus.

NIGEL RODDIS/REUTERS Hope Solo (l.) celebrates with her teammates after defeating Japan in the women’s final soccer match at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

We still don’t know exactly what causes babies to develop this defect, but it can be related to genetics, infections, severe malnutrition, or exposure to alcohol, drugs, or other toxic chemicals. Ultrasounds performed late in her pregnancy revealed a small fetal head and brain calcifications-abnormalities seen in other cases linked to Zika. We’re going to monitor the pregnancy for these complications so that if they arise, we have early warning.

The government believes that as many as 1.5 million Brazilians may have been infected by Zika so far.