Spreading Zika virus a new economic strain for Latin America

The Ministry of Health said the number suspected cases of microcephaly, a neurological disorder in which infants are born with smaller craniums and brains, increased to 3,893 by January 16 from 3,530 cases 10 days earlier. Brazil has seen an unprecedented rise in the virus since 2013, with the government estimating that there are between 400,000 and 1.4 million Zika cases in the country, the Washington Post reported.

So far, health authorities have only confirmed six cases of microcephaly where the baby was infected with the Zika virus. The same mosquito also transmits the fever-inducing dengue and chikungunya viruses.

Colombia has reported 13,500 cases of the Zika virus, while Bolivia recently reported its first case of a pregnant woman with the disease.

Three UK travellers have been diagnosed with the Zika virus, the mosquito-borne disease linked to severe birth defects.

The CDC has issued an alert asking women at any stage of pregnancy to postpone travel to 14 destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean.

CDC has warned that because the Aedes species mosquitoes that spread Zika virus are found throughout the world, it is likely that outbreaks will spread to new countries. Texas has also recorded its cases. And if it follows the spread of other similar viruses those numbers could reach into the hundreds of thousands.

Doctors advise pregnant women who do travel to affected areas to cover up and use mosquito repellent.

They are as follows: Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela and Puerto Rico.

The virus often produces flu-like symptoms (fever, headaches and joint pain) as well as skin rashes and conjunctivitis.

The virus belonging to the Flaviviridae virus family was discovered in 1947 in the Zika forest of Uganada. There is virtually no risk to Illinois residents since you can not contract Zika virus from another person, but only through the bite of an infected mosquito, “according to Central Illinois Proud”.

CDC Director General Steve Kuo said this was the first zika virus case detected in Taiwan since the agency began to monitor and test for the virus.