More than 3100 pregnant women in Colombia have Zika virus: Government

‘Zika virus is spread by mosquitoes and there is no evidence that this is changing, ‘ he said. Colombian officials said Friday that three people had died of the paralyzing Guillain-Barre syndrome they attributed to cases of Zika.

“Our primary concern and priority here is the protection of pregnant women”, said Frieden.

And it’s not confirmed that Zika causes birth defects, despite increased incidents in infants alongside rising Zika infections in Brazil.

The president of the country’s top health research agency Fiocruz said the discovery of active Zika virus in saliva samples for the first time merits special precaution with expectant mothers, given the suggestion the disease can cause serious birth defects.

The government has said pregnant women with Zika are eligible to access much-restricted abortion services.

“Other cases (of deaths linked to Zika) are going to emerge”, said epidemiologist Martha Lucia Ospina, director of the INS.

President Juan Orlando Hernandez has allocated an initial tranche of $10 million in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus.

That rare condition – in which the body’s immune system attacks the nerves – can cause paralysis, and some South American nations have linked it to the Zika virus. Pouilly gave the example of El Salvador, where about a quarter of women had experienced physical or sexual violence in the past year.

USA officials have recommended pregnant women postpone trips to more than two dozen countries with Zika outbreaks, mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean.

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 published on Saturday showed.

Earlier this week, USA health officials confirmed the first case of sexually-transmitted Zika, involving a person who had travelled to Venezuela and infected a sexual partner in Texas upon return. However, in a statement issued Thursday, the bishops said that the World Health Organization’s declaration earlier this week that Zika was an worldwide emergency didn’t justify abortion.

The WHO has advised countries against accepting blood donations from people who have traveled to affected regions.

Asked by a reporter for more specifics on when such cases could be anticipated, Frieden said it depends on many factors, including how much Zika was present in an area and how likely it is that a Zika infection may result in a birth defect. “That is why we have teams on the ground now, heading out today, tomorrow and next week to different places to partner with countries around the continent so that we can learn more”, he said. Colombia is next on the list, with more than 20,000 cases. An estimated 80 percent of those infected show no symptoms, and those that do have a mild illness, with a fever, rash and red eyes.

But Brazil sounded the alarm after recording a surge in babies born with microcephaly.

“Brazil is in a particularly hard position” given the scope of the country’s microcephaly outbreak, she said.