First Zika-linked deaths reported in Colombia

More than 3,100 pregnant Colombian women are infected with the mosquito-borne Zika virus, according to President Juan Manuel Santos, as the disease continues its rapid spread across the Americas.

But Brazil sounded the alarm after recording a surge in babies born with microcephaly, or abnormally small heads and brains.

Pregnant women should not kiss anyone other than a regular partner, Brazil health officials warned in a sign of growing concern over the Zika virus.

Authorities in Brazil have concluded the investigation into 1,113 of the 4,783 cases of reported cases of microcephaly: 709 cases were discarded, 17 cases had laboratory confirmation of Zika infection, and 387 cases had radiological findings compatible with a congenital infection.

Meanwhile, U.S. health officials said men who have visited an area with Zika should use condoms if they have sex with a pregnant woman – for the entire duration of the pregnancy.

Although the Zika virus is mostly transmitted when a mosquito bites a human infected with the virus, then goes on to bite another human, some rare cases of sexual transmission via semen have been documented in the past, and a person in Dallas, Texas recently got infected via sexual transmission.

It’s definitely worth keeping an eye out for new information regarding the Zika virus, and pregnant women should indeed take precautions as suggested by the CDC.

CDC chief Frieden said the suspected link appears “stronger and stronger” as researchers study whether there is a causal connection.

It’s as researchers in Rio say they’ve found the virus in saliva and urine, exactly six months before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games there.

The virus causes a relatively mild infection in humans: fever, rash and conjunctivitis that lasts as long as a week. The current major concern is what the Zika virus might be doing to pregnant women and their babies.

Thousands of children in Brazil have been born with shrunken heads in the past year – aa birth defect that could result from Zika infection, though a definitive cause has not yet been proven.

The vast majority of Zika infections have been caused by mosquito bites, but word surfaced this week of infections caused by sexual transmission and blood transfusions. While 452 travel-related cases were documented in Florida that year, just 11 people contracted the virus in the state.

The province of Norte de Santander had almost 5,000 cases of the virus – more than any other in the country – an epidemiological bulletin from the national health institute showed.

“Clearly, managing the spread of Zika is a major challenge to the governments in Latin America”, Zeid said.

More than 30 people in the United States have been confirmed to have Zika after traveling to an affected country.