First baby with Zika-related birth defect born in New York City

Officials in Colombia said they were also ending their recommendation that couples delay pregnancies.

The Associated Press reported that the mosquitoes are now being tested for Zika virus.

“It’s hard to make predictive statements on an epidemic when the vast majority of cases go unreported”, said Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas.

On February 1 this year the World Health Organisation declared the epidemic an global public health emergency.

However, near the beginning of the outbreak past year physicians in communities on the Mexico-Guatemala border reported an increase in the number of patents showing signs and symptoms thought to be different from those of chikungunya or dengue. “At the same time, I see nothing that supports that”.

This individual has not traveled to an area where the virus is circulating.

The announcement is especially significant because Colombia has had a well-regarded and robust monitoring system in place to track the epidemic and its gravest health risks, including fetal birth defects and the potentially fatal neurological disorder known as Guillain-Barré syndrome.

According to study co-author Alex Perkins of University of Notre Dame, women in poorer areas are at greater risk for Zika because they are less likely to have screens on their windows and air conditioners – two factors that have a major influence on reducing exposure to mosquitoes that carry Zika. A hospital source said she was infected in Latin America, where the virus is prevalent.

The virus is primarily transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito, but it also can be spread through sexual contact.

Most people infected with Zika experience mild or no symptoms.

An estimated 80 percent of Zika infections do not cause symptoms, the researchers noted. New figures from Brazil’s Health Ministry show that the Zika virus outbreak has not caused as many confirmed cases of a rare brain defect as first feared.

There are a number of possible explanations for that difference.

And new cases may be found in the coming months in babies conceived during the epidemic.

This is a natural process whereby people become immune to a virus after their first exposure, eventually reaching the point where mosquitoes can not find enough susceptible people to keep the epidemic going, and it dies out without infecting everyone.

The new guidance, issued Monday, also applies to pregnant women who have no symptoms.

There are at least 400 pregnant women infected with Zika in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, and another 378 pregnant women in the USA territories, a lot of them in Puerto Rico.