Pregnant women warned against rare virus spread by mosquitos

Around 1.5 million people in Brazil have been infected in just eight months and 14 countries across South and Central America, including Barbados and Mexico, have reported locally-acquired cases.

The World Health Organization says global investigators are probing an apparent link between the Zika virus and a rise in microcephaly in Brazil, where thousands of babies have been born with unusually small heads in the past year or so.

That said, what many do not know is that the Zika virus has been around since the 1940s.

Symptoms of the Zika virus include mild fever and a skin rash.

Three British travelers have been infected with the Zika virus, health officials revealed this week.

As of December, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta reported evidence of transmission of the virus in at least 45 countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas and the Pacific islands.

Newborns with microcephaly have abnormally smaller heads, which can cause brain damage.

In northeast Brazil there has been a marked increase in cases of microcephaly, a neurological disorder in babies that scientists think may be linked to Zika.

“We are urging residents, especially pregnant women, to check all health advisories before traveling and take preventative measures when traveling to affected countries”.

Zika is spread by the Aedes genus of mosquito, which transmits the disease when it bites a person infected with Zika, then bites another host.

Pregnant women, and those trying to conceive, who must travel to one of these areas should talk to their doctor or other health care provider first and strictly follow the steps to avoid mosquito bites during the trip.

[The] CDC recommends that all pregnant women consider postponing travel to areas where Zika virus transmission is ongoing.

What is Zika virus?

The epidemic has prompted authorities in Colombia, Ecuador, El Savador and Jamaica to advise women against pregnancy.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) stated that it supports the new travel guidelines issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in response to the mosquito-born Zika virus.

No one can yet say why Zika hasn’t been associated with birth defects before, but the virus didn’t start spreading widely until 2007.