Confirmed Cases Of Zika Virus In Florida

A female Aedes aegypti mosquito in the process of acquiring a blood meal from a human host.

Zika is known to cause a potentially fatal neurological condition in newborns whose mothers were infected by the virus during pregnancy.

The Zika virus is nothing new, but health officials fear the infections are behind an exponential increase of babies born with birth defects in Brazil. The leading national public health institute of the United States says the rare virus, which is transmitted by mosquitoes, could be a threat for travelling pregnant women. The travel advisory it issued late Friday named Brazil and neighboring countries and territories throughout Latin America and the Caribbean where local transmission of Zika has occurred in recent months.

In the meantime, it “recommends that pregnant women in any trimester should consider postponing travel to the areas where Zika virus transmission is ongoing”.

Only 25 percent of those infected by the Zika Virus see symptoms, Goldhagen said.

“If you’re going to be traveling to areas where there are Zika virus infections, then you want to do extra precautions”, said Dr. Karpovs. More than 3,500 cases have been reported in Brazil since October.

The CDC strongly advises pregnant women to avoid traveling to Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela and Puerto Rico.

Orange County health department director Kevin Sherin said while pregnant women should avoid traveling to these places, all travelers should use mosquito repellant and watch for symptoms.

Only one in five people who contract Zika display symptoms of the disease, which include nausea, irritability, rash, red eyes and significant joint pain.

A baby in Oahu, Hawaii was born with microcephaly, a condition marked by an abnormally small head linked to Zika virus infection, making it the first reported case in the country.

Babies who develop microcephaly in the womb may not live to full term, may be born prematurely, may be still born or may survive, but with life-long disability.

TAIPEI-The Zika virus has arrived in Taiwan, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Tuesday, after a Thai national coming to Taiwan to work for the first time was confirmed to be infected with the virus. The virus is spread through mosquito bites.

Genetically modified mosquitoes could help Brazil combat the Zika virus, tests results released Tuesday by a British biotech firm suggest.