Airlines Offering Travel Accommodations For Pregnant Women Following Zika Virus Concerns

Three Canadians have contracted the Zika virus after travelling to countries where the mosquito-borne virus is spreading, Health Minister Jane Philpott confirmed Thursday.

At a press briefing Thursday, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said that a large outbreak of Zika virus in the United States is unlikely.

“Protect yourself use the [Environmental Protection Agency] registered repellants for mosquitoes”, said Phyllis Ellis, director of the Oneida County Health Department.

At the meantime, Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes said he does not believe the spreading Zika virus “is a problem for the Olympics”, which open in six months in the picturesque South American city.

Brazilian health officials say almost 4,200 babies have been born with this condition since October 2015.

Symptoms include fever, joint pain and redness in the eyes. An estimated 80 percent of people infected have no symptoms, making it hard for pregnant women to know whether they have been infected.

The virus has been linked to a devastating birth defect called microcephaly in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and brains that have not developed properly.

Well, that’s because we are one of the countries which is nearly entirely susceptible to the disease, given the prevalence of Aedes Aegypti – the mosquitos that transmit both Dengue and the Zika virus. The organization works with low-income pregnant women. The New York Times reported that “as many as four million people could be infected by the end of the year”.

That’s why the CDC now has a list of 24 countries and territories in which women are asked to avoid travel if they are, or may be pregnant.

“There is some evidence that mother-to-child transmission may occur, there have been a few reports identifying the possibility of transmission of Zika virus through transfusion of infected blood or possible sexual transmission of Zika virus”.