Taiwan’s first confirmed Zika virus case brought in from Thailand

“Babies are born with a small brain, microcephaly, they’re born retarded so it’s a real tragedy if a pregnant lady gets infected with the Zika virus”, explains Dr. Mobley.

Travel warnings are in place to over a dozen countries as the virus continues its rampage through South and Central America.

The surge of cases since the virus was first detected a year ago in Brazil led the ministry to link it to the fetal deformations and warn pregnant women to use insect repellent to avoid mosquito bites.

Among these states, the Illinois Department of Public Health said in a statement that two pregnant Illinois women have tested positive for the Zika virus and that doctors are monitoring their health and pregnancies.

Also, she announced that 27 samples from different patients had been sent to the United States for testing to determine if they are cases of the Zika virus.

“Zika virus infection does not pose a risk of birth defects for future pregnancies”.

In adults, the viral disease usually causes a mild fever, rash, headaches, arthralgia, myalgia, asthenia and non-purulent conjunctivitis, with one out of four people affected not developing any symptoms at all, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Brazilian health officials have become concerned because the disease may be linked to more than 3,500 children born with microcephaly since October, The Post reported. The condition is rare and causes the baby to develop an abnormally small head and developmental brain issues. The list of these includes El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, French Guiana, Suriname, Haiti, Martinique, Puerto Rico and Mexico.

“This is an emerging situation, it’s an emerging virus and things are definitely going to change”, she said.

There are no known cases of someone contracting the virus in Florida, although the Aedes mosquito, which also transmits dengue fever and chikungunya, is found in the state.

Scientists first discovered the virus in Uganda in 1947 while studying monkeys, and isolated it in the 1950s in a human in Nigeria.

While zika does not spread from person to person, mosquitoes could feed on returning travelers carrying the disease before transmitting it to others.