Health expert weighs in on Zika cases in South Florida

Right now there is no vaccine or treatment for Zika and that’s why the CDC is urging pregnant women to think twice before traveling certain countries in Central and South America, where the virus is prevalent. The Hawaiian newborn was the first in the U.S.to be born with the Zika-associated congenital defect, cases of which have exploded in Brazil since May. Two of the Florida cases occurred in Miami-Dade County residents who traveled to Colombia in December; the third case is a resident from the Tampa-St. The virus has also been detected in Africa, Asia and the countries in the Pacific Ocean.

For most, the symptoms are nothing too dire – fever, rash, and some joint pain.

A 24-year-old man travelling from Thailand has been confirmed as Taiwan’s first case of the Zika virus, reported the Ministry of Health and Welfare yesterday.

Pregnant women who traveled recently to places linked with the Zika virus are advised to undergo testing.

The disease is not contagious and for most people who catch it, it will only last a few days. But in 2015 the disease made the leap to the Western Hemisphere, affecting more than a million people in Brazil.

Two other people from northern Thailand accompanied the patient to Taiwan, but neither tested positive for the Zika or dengue fever virus.

“Zika is spread by infected mosquitoes”, said ABC Chief Health and Medical Editor Dr. Richard Besser.

Crystal Chavez is a reporter with WMFE in Orlando.

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

Brazilian health officials say the number of cases of microcephaly, a rare brain defect in babies, has risen to 3,893 since authorities began investigating the surge in cases in October.

These areas include Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, according to the CDC.

“This is a significant advance, but we still can not scientifically state that Zika is the cause of microcephaly“, said Jean Peron, an immunology expert who is experimenting on pregnant mice at the University of Sao Paulo’s Institute of Biomedical Sciences.

The CDC issued guidelines last week advising pregnant woman to consider postponing travel to any country where the virus is being transmitted or to take extra precautions against mosquito bites if they are in that area. The Aedes species mosquito is common in many areas of the United States, and it is possible for the infection to migrate to this country in the blood of infected travelers, according to the CDC.