Florida, Illinois report travel-related Zika cases

US health officials issued new guidance Tuesday for doctors whose pregnant patients may have traveled to regions with a tropical illness linked to birth defects.

Pregnant women in the USA are officially being warned to watch out for the Zika virus, which appears to be harmful to fetal brain development, and which they might have been exposed to if they have recently traveled outside the country.

“There is virtually no risk to IL residents since you can not contract Zika virus from another person, but only through the bite of an infected mosquito”, said IDPH Director Nirav D. Shah, M.D., J.D.

The Florida Department of Health has confirmed three Zika cases. The two Miami-Dade cases involve people who traveled to Colombia in December; a third case in Hillsborough County, where Tampa is, involves someone who traveled to Venezuela in December.

Two pregnant Illinois residents have tested positive for the Zika virus, prompting a warning from the Illinois Department of Public Health for anyone traveling overseas.

“We know from the confirmation from CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), there’s evidence of past infection which means the baby was infected while the baby was still in the womb and resolved that infection, the actual virus and infection itself, unfortunately with damage as a result”, Dr. Park said.

About 80 percent of people infected with the virus do not show symptoms, but for those who do, the symptoms include acute fever onset, maculopapular rash, conjunctivitis and joint pains or arthralgia.

The child born in Hawaii is the only reported case of Zika in the U.S.

There have been 3,893 cases of microcephaly since October, when the authorities first noticed a surge, up from 3,500 in last week’s report. It can last up to a week, often times only a couple of days.

Liu said the Zika virus spread quickly in Central and South America in the latter part of 2015.

There is not now any vaccine against Zika, but the CDC recommends wearing mosquito repellant and sleeping under a mosquito net to avoid being bitten by the mosquitoes that carry the virus.

Babies with microcephaly have smaller than normal heads and their brains do not develop properly.

Pregnant women traveling to areas where Zika is known to have been transmitted, the CDC suggests women wear long-sleeve shirts and long trousers, use insect repellents, and stay and sleep in screened-in or air-conditioned rooms.

“It will provoke a fair amount of anxiety in the pregnant women and their partner”, Schaffner said.

A travel alert is in effect for pregnant women headed overseas because of the spread of the Zika virus.

Q: Many people are just now becoming aware of the Zika virus.