First Dane stricken with the Zika virus

Yesterday, the CDC expanded its travel warning for pregnant women and those considering becoming pregnant to avoid 24 areas in Latin America and the Caribbean that have seen cases of Zika virus.

At least twelve cases of Zika in the United States have now been confirmed by the CDC.

In a blog post, National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins cited a Lancet study published January 14 in which researchers predicted the Zika virus could be spread in areas along the East and West Coasts of the United States and much of the Midwest during warmer months, where about 200 million people live.

This outbreak has spread to more than 20 countries in South and Central America, after first emerging in Brazil where it is been linked to an increase in incidence of a birth defect.

Dr. Laura Riley, president of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and a specialist in high-risk pregnancies at Massachusetts General Hospital, has fielded many concerned calls from pregnant women who are anxious that their baby might have microcephaly (ME), a condition that causes a baby to be born with an extremely small head.

But the only tests available are hard to interpret, and not widely available, so they’re being reserved for pregnant women who have symptoms of Zika.

There is no vaccine or specific treatment for Zika, a flu-like disease with a rash that goes unnoticed in 70 to 80 percent of cases. Zika fever infection during the first three-four months of pregnancy causes fetal abnormalities, including microcephaly in newborns…

Currently, this mosquito-transmitted virus has no cure at all.

The Zika virus, discovered decades ago in Africa, was long thought to be more of a nuisance illness, with symptoms generally much milder than its cousin dengue.

Khan pointed out that USA authorities would likely be far more effective in carrying out mosquito extermination efforts than their Latin American counterparts, and would likely be better able to stem the disease’s spread. The Brazilian government has sent soldiers “door to door” to destroy places where mosquitoes could breed.

“Any team members who are pregnant at the time of the Games need to consider the risks very carefully before deciding whether to proceed with travel to Brazil”, the AOC said in a statement today. There have been however, two individual cases in which the virus was spread through sexual contact.

European officials have said they expect to see cases of the Zika virus among travelers, but say local transmission is unlikely.

Major past outbreaks of Zika occurred in the Pacific islands among small populations, and uncommon kinds of birth defects were not noticed right away.

The Danish man, who had returned from a trip to Mexico and Brazil, is expected to recover soon, health officials said.