Zika virus identified in Mainer who’d traveled outside US

A total of 32 cases of Zika have been confirmed so far in Florida, all of which were acquired outside of the United States.

Brazil has confirmed more than 580 cases of microcephaly and is investigating more than 4,100 suspected cases.

A team led by Manoel Sarno of Hospital Geral Roberto Santos in Bahia, Brazil, now reports the case of a 20-year-old pregnant woman whose stillborn fetus had not only microcephaly, but swollen pockets of fluid in the abdomen. She also didn’t have symptoms of chikungunya, dengue or other mosquito-borne diseases.

And because this was a single case, it is not possible to estimate the risk of stillbirth among women who are exposed to the Zika virus during pregnancy, the researchers said.

There has been an explosion of Zika infections in South and Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean since last May.

All four mothers had signs of Zika virus during the first trimester of pregnancy.

The virus, which has swept through the Americas, has already been linked to microcephaly, a condition that leaves children with small skulls, but not to more widespread abnormalities. These mosquitoes are not found in MI, but are widespread in tropical and subtropical areas.

Until more is known, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now advising pregnant women to avoid travel to countries where Zika virus is circulating.

First discovered in Uganda in 1947, the Zika virus was not thought to pose serious health risks until a year ago. Researchers are studying possible links between Zika in pregnant women and birth defects in babies.

The person was not hospitalized and is recovering at home, the CDC said. The CDC took the opportunity to remind folks that men who have travelled to an area of active Zika virus should abstain from having sex with pregnant partners. The WHO has advised women, particularly pregnant women, to use condoms.

U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Jupiter, said Thursday he and a colleague have introduced three pieces of legislation in Congress to help combat Zika. That’s how they learned Zika was present in the baby. In other diseases linked to stillbirths, an infection can cause inflammation of the fetal heart, liver, and other tissues that produce the kind of fluid swelling seen in the new case report. During an outbreak of Zika from 2013-14 in French Polynesia, national health authorities reported an unusual increase in Guillain-Barre syndrome. The strain of Zika that was found appears to be the same strain that is now spreading elsewhere.

It’s not yet clear whether or not Zika caused the defects in this individual case.