Zika virus may infect up to 700000 people in Colombia -gov’t

Now, two pregnant women in the continental USA have tested positive for Zika virus, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health on Tuesday.

The symptoms of the Zika virus include fevers, mild headaches, skin rashes, joint pain and conjunctivitis.

The CDC also has recommended screening pregnant women for Zika virus if they’ve traveled to a country where it’s a risk, and has also advised pregnant women to consider postponing travel to areas where the virus transmission is ongoing.

“There is virtually no risk to IL residents since you can not contract Zika virus from another person, but only through the bite of an infected mosquito”, said Dr Nirav Shah, the IL health department’s director, in a statement.

Zika is a mosquito borne illness and is linked to severe birth defects, including severe brain damage.

Countries where the Zika virus has been reported are: Brazil, Barbados, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Saint Martin, Suriname and Venezuela.

Health officials say it’s only a matter of time before mosquitoes in the US are likely infected. Symptoms can last several days to a one-week period.

There have also been cases in Cabo Verde in Africa and in Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia and sporadic imported cases in Europe, Canada and the United States from Central and South America.

Also on Friday, DOH confirmed that laboratory confirmation from the CDC that a past Zika virus infection in a baby recently born with microcephaly in an Oahu hospital. The virus is considered epidemic in the South American nation.

Pregnant women can spread Zika virus to their children during birth. The company said it has released the bugs in parts of Brazil and the Cayman Islands to battle dengue fever. It is not transmitted from person to person.

However, Brazil has been combating a large outbreak, and Brazilian officials have noted a significant increase in cases of microcephaly-more than 3,500 microcephaly cases were reported in that country between October 2015 and January 2016.

“Microcephaly is a condition which means that the head is very small, and so it can lead to a lot of developmental problems, birth problems”, said Dr. Karpovs.

There is no vaccine to prevent or medication to treat Zika, and most often, those infected do not require hospitalization.

The Zika virus was first spotted in Uganda way back in 1947 and was pretty much unknown to the people until 2007. So far, they say, there is no evidence that the virus has begun to spread locally in the US.