Baby in Hawaii Born With Brain Damage Caused by Zika Virus

Tests have linked Zika virus to babies born with microcephaly, a birth defect that causes babies to be born with small skulls, brain damage and sometimes death.

The CDC and state health department said neither mother or child are infectious. “We didn’t feel we could wait”.

The Hawaii newborn “further emphasizes the importance of the CDC travel recommendations released today”, Dr. Park said.

The mother became ill with the Zika virus while living in Brazil in May 2015 and the baby was likely infected in the womb, Hawaiian state health officials and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said. Since October, more than 3,500 have been reported there. “There is no medication and there is no vaccine, but for most adults it will cause [only] a viral-type illness with body aches and fever”.

The alert, from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, lists the following countries and regions in Central and South America and the Caribbean: Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela, and Puerto Rico.

The travel alert targets pregnant women and those who want to become pregnant and follows reports that thousands of babies in Brazil were born a year ago with microcephaly, a brain disorder experts associate with Zika exposure. Since then, an estimated 1.5 million people are believed to have been infected.

The same species of mosquitoes that spread the chikungunya and dengue viruses, the Aedes species, also spreads the Zika virus.

The Zika virus’ local transmission – meaning mosquitoes in the area have been infected with the virus and are transmitting it to humans – has been detected in 14 countries and territories.

This can be done by using insect repellent; wearing clothes (preferably light-coloured) that cover as much of the body as possible; using physical barriers such as screens, closed doors and windows; and sleeping under mosquito nets. The three diseases are transmitted by the mosquito Aedes aegypti.

Some of the symptoms of the Zika virus are similar to cold symptoms, like pain in the joints, a rash and what is generally a mild illness with fever.

These include diseases such as West Nile, Lyme disease, yellow fever, and malaria. Symptoms usually clear up within a few days.

It’s impossible at this point to say how long the travel advice will remain in effect, Dr. Lyle Petersen, director of the CDC’s division of vector-borne diseases, said at a news conference announcing the guidance.

Health Minister Marcelo Castro said Friday that the goal is for the Sao Paulo-based Butantan Institute to develop “in record time” a vaccine for Zika, which is spread through mosquito bites.