Pregnant women warned about mosquito-borne Zika virus

The same mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus live in Hawaii and some southern states, therefore, there is a possibility that more cases may be discovered in the near future.

Zika virus is transmitted by Aedes species mosquitoes, which also spread dengue and chikungunya viruses and are common in Texas, Florida and elsewhere in the United States.

A baby born with brain damage at a hospital in Hawaii was infected by the Zika virus, the first case of the mosquito-borne virus in a birth on USA soil, United States health officials have confirmed. The list of countries with transmission has been steadily growing; on Saturday, Barbados reported its first cases. It’s a cousin of dengue virus but only causes symptoms in about one in four or one in five people. It often produces flu-like symptoms (fever, headaches and joint pain) as well as skin rashes and conjunctivitis. The presence of the virus was confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Because of the Zika outbreak in Brazil, the CDC released travel warnings on Friday concerning Central America, South America, and some islands in the Caribbean.

Nevertheless, Hawaii is undergoing an outbreak of dengue fever, and the same mosquitoes that transmit it also can transmit Zika. The locations named were: Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in particular cautioned pregnant women not to travel to those areas as Zika has been linked to serious birth defects.

“In this situation, an astute Hawaii physician recognized the possible role of Zika virus infection, immediately notified the Department of Health, and worked with us to confirm the suspected diagnosis”.

Traces of Zika virus have been found in the amniotic fluid from two women in Brazil who were seen to be carrying fetuses with microcephaly during ultrasounds.

It will take months for scientists to fully understand how and why Zika might cause birth defects and to figure out why it had not been noticed before.

Though there was a baby born in Hawaii with brain damage due to the Zika virus, to date, it is the only known case of anyone in the US having the virus.

Brazil has been the hardest hit, documenting more than 3,500 cases of microcephaly between October 2015 and January 2016.

At the moment the only way to fight Zika is to clear standing water where mosquitoes breed. “Neither the baby nor the mother are infectious, and there was never a risk of transmission in Hawaii”, the health department said.