Portugal has five mild cases of Zika virus, all after Brazil trips

The most common symptom of the disease are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). During the 2013 Zika outbreak in French Polynesia, semen and urine samples from a 44-year-old Tahitian man tested positive for Zika even when blood samples did not.

People travelling from countries where the Zika virus is now present like Brazil, El Salvador etc. can bring in the virus to India.

But now Brazil has reported a big increase in cases of a birth defect called microcephaly and evidence is adding up that links the virus to the condition. There is no vaccine or treatment available for the virus.

The Samoan Director-General of Health says there were just three cases of Zika in Samoa previous year and the travel warnings were issued without consultation. Although the health ministry has reinforced actions against proliferation of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which transmits Zika and dengue, microcephaly cases in the South American country has not shown any sign of decline.

There is still much to learn about Zika infections, experts said. The Ebola virus is often fatal if untreated.

The Zika virus is quickly expanding its reach, particularly in the Americas.

Health officials say a Virginia resident who traveled outside the United States has tested positive for Zika, a mosquito-transmitted virus.

Britain has reported five cases in travellers returning from South America since past year, while the Netherlands has confirmed 10 cases, also in people returning from the region.

There have been only two documented cases linking Zika to sex.

The reports cover the period from October 22 to January 23. The more people who are infected, the more likely the virus is to spread.

Health Minister Alejandro Gaviria visited the city of Ibague, a hotbed of Zika, to start a “Tour of Colombia” campaign to educate local officials on how to fight the mosquitoes.

“This is not going to be overnight”, Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health said in an interview Tuesday. Previously, outbreaks have been reported in Africa, Southeast Asia and Pacific Islands.

Obama was briefed on the potential spread of the virus by his top health and national security officials on Tuesday.

The most serious effects are thought to occur in unborn babies when the women carrying them were bitten by mosquitos carrying the virus. “But this is something that should have been done years ago”.

Castro’s remarks have proven controversial, both in and outside Brazil. All are adults, he said, without providing further details.

The elementary school principal who was fatally hit by a bus outside her Indianapolis school made it a point to get to know every student and bring out the best in each of them, her colleagues said Wednesday.

Zika virus disease is caused by a virus transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes.

“We were taken by surprise”, says Rocha, a veteran infectious disease specialist at the Oswaldo Cruz University in the state capital of Recife, where doctors are struggling to care for 300 babies born with the condition.

Romit Jain from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in Stockholm says there have been confirmed cases of imported Zika virus infections in Germany and Britain.