Zika virus case confirmed in Virginia

While the exact correlation between a Zika infection and microcephaly is unclear, officials believe that pregnant women who are bitten by infected mosquitoes may be transmitting the virus to their fetuses through the placenta.

In Brazil, Zika virus infections in pregnant women have been linked to 3,893 births of babies with abnormally small heads, a condition known as microcephaly.

The virus has now spread to at least 25 countries with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warning pregnant women against travelling to the “alert” areas. The VDH would not say whether the person is a man or a woman or where the person lives.

The Arkansas Department of Health on Tuesday confirmed that a resident of that state who had also recently traveled out of the country tested positive for Zika.

The CDC says specific areas where Zika virus transmission is ongoing are often hard to determine and are likely to continue to change over time.

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“Zika is one of several mosquito-borne diseases that may infect travelers, including chikungunya and dengue“, Dr. Jeffrey Gunzenhauser, interim health officer for Los Angeles County, said in a statement.

Dr. Kerkering said the virus is spread through mosquitoes, not from person to person.

“The congenital defect that has been associated with this is called Microcephaly which means small head, so the virus probably infects the cells of the developing brain of the fetus and damages it”, said Lowery.

The CDC is encouraging those who are pregnant not to travel to the affected counties. The association between Zika virus and birth defects has not been firmly established and is being investigated further.

The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain, or conjunctivitis (pink eye).

According to the latest report by the Health Ministry, the five deaths happened in northeastern Brazil, the worst region hit by Zika. Zika outbreaks have also been reported in Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Suriname and Venezuela, among others. Meanwhile, women in affected countries are being advised not to get pregnant.

There is no specific medicine and there hasn’t been a vaccine developed for it, which is the case for some other tropical illnesses that cause periodic outbreaks.