First sexually-transmitted case of Zika in France: minister to AFP

The Zika virus – spread mainly by mosquito bites – is epidemic in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The CDC said the nine pregnant women who tested positive for Zika all had reported symptoms of the disease, such as fever, rash and joint pain – a notable fact, given that the majority of people infected by the virus do not display symptoms.

The CDC also cautioned that pregnant women may be at risk for sexual transmission of Zika if they have a male partner who goes to the olympics and therefore should either use condoms the right way every time or do not have sex during their pregnancy.

The U.S. cases add to reports out of Brazil. 26, 2015, the US government said Zika infections have been confirmed in nine pregnant women in the United States.

For example, the CDC recommends increased surveillance starting at 18 to 20 weeks of pregnancy for women suspected of having a Zika infection, but there is little a woman can do if signs of microcephaly begin to surface. All got the virus overseas.

Six of the pregnant women were infected with the virus during their first trimester, the CDC said. And one of the women gave birth to a child with severe microcephaly.

Estafany Perreira holds her nephew David Henrique Ferreira, 5 months, who has microcephaly, on January 25, 2016 in Recife, Brazil.

Those destinations are among the 30 places now on the CDC’s travel alert. Three babies have been born, one with a brain defect.

The CDC said the Zika outbreak in Brazil is “dynamic” and that it will continue to monitor the situation and will adjust these recommendations as needed. Research is also underway into a possible link between Zika and a paralyzing condition in adults called Guillain-Barre. That’s to prevent mosquitoes from biting them and possibly spreading Zika to others in the U.S.

So far, the CDC has been made aware of more than a hundred cases of infection, 147 to be exact, with 107 of the cases being travel-related.