Two Pregnant Illinois Women Diagnosed with Zika Virus

Two pregnant Illinois residents who recently traveled to countries where Zika virus is found have tested positive for the virus, the Illinois Department of Public Health said. People with the illness are usually recommended rest, fluids and use of pain or fever-reducing mediation, the CDC said. There is no cure or vaccine for Zika virus, which is simply treated to alleviate symptoms. In Brazil, there’s mounting evidence linking the infection to a birth defect in which the head is smaller than normal and the brain has not developed properly. “Most people who get bit by one of these mosquitoes will have no illness or a mild illness, but if you’re pregnant, it can cause severe brain damage in a baby”.

“There’s a lot we don’t know”, including how much Zika is in the different areas, or how likely it is that Zika infection in a pregnant woman will lead to the birth defect, he added.

The CDC has provided a list steps to avoid mosquito bites, specifically for travelers.

Sherin said it’s possible local mosquitoes could pick up the virus if they bite an infected person. In 2007, the first documented outbreak of Zika virus disease occurred in the Pacific. “Testing for Zika virus infection is performed at CDC and several state health departments”, the guidelines said.

Aedes aegypti is the mosquito that carries the dengue and Zika viruses, among others. Dr. Sarah Park, the Hawaii state epidemiologist, said Tuesday the mother no longer had the virus when she arrived in Hawaii and the baby no longer had it at the time of birth.

“Right now, in IL there is no known transmission of Zika virus”. As a result, he was born with microcephaly. Since October, Brazil has reported more than 3,500 cases of microcephaly in infants compared to less than 150 in all of 2014.

The alert followed reports in Brazil of microcephaly in babies of mothers who were infected with the virus while pregnant, but researchers have said additional studies are needed to determine the relationship, if any, between the virus and the defect. The two had acquired the virus when they went to Colombia in December.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization is reportedly conducting research to determine how Zika affects fetuses.

According to Pan-American Health Organisation figures, the country is second only to Brazil in infection rates, Alejandro Gaviria told journalists on Wednesday.

The Zika virus is primarily transmitted by Aedes aegypti, the type of mosquito responsible for spreading dengue, yellow fever, and a whole host of other tropical infectious diseases.