Schumer urges 3-point federal plan to fight Zika virus

The first case of Zika virus infection in Minnesota was reported after an Anoka woman returned from a trip to Honduras this January.

World Health Organization has so far refrained from issuing travel warnings related to Zika, stressing that the most effective form of prevention is getting rid of stagnant water where mosquitos easily breed, and personal protection against mosquito bites such as using bug repellant and sleeping under mosquito nets.

The CDC also lists Brazil, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Suriname and Venezuela in South America as well as Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Martinique, Puerto Rico, Saint Martin and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean.

Earlier figures from the Health Ministry showed that 560 pregnant women had the disease, out of more than 13,500 infections. But, “for people who are pregnant and considering travel to the affected areas please take this seriously…It’s very important for you to understand that we don’t know as much as we want to know about this yet”.

Cambodia’s only Zika case recovered in 2010 after treatment.

Although the mosquito-borne virus’s symptoms are relatively mild, it is believed to be linked to a surge in cases of microcephaly, a devastating condition in which a baby is born with an abnormally small head and brain. A member of the same disease family as the West Nile virus, yellow fever, Chikungunya and Dengue fever, the Zika virus is not contagious from person to person and is only spread by infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. There is some evidence suggesting that sexual intercourse can also transmit the Zika virus.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is advising pregnant women to avoid travel in areas where Zika is active.

The Health Ministry is advising caution and says it’s following the situation in countries with the Zika virus closely.

Brazil is in a state of health emergency due to an outbreak of the zika virus throughout the country. The virus has hit the country hard, with more than 1,500 cases the past month, and critics say the decree is a cry for help. Instances of microcephaly have boomed in Brazil, just as the Zika virus has spread.

The spread of Zika across the globe.

WHO Assistant Director-General Bruce Aylward warned that though the Zika virus is now circulating at a very high intensity in the Americas, gaps remain regarding the situation on the ground.