CDC expands tropical virus alert; 22 destinations on list

The government chose to make the announcement after 5,397 cases of the Zika virus were detected in El Salvador in 2015 and the first few days of this year, Espinoza said.

Federal health officials added eight countries to its travel warning list, which now includes 22 countries mostly in South America, Central America and the Caribbean.

This warning comes with mounting evidence that women who contract Zika in their first or second trimester can pass on the virus to their infants, leading to microcephaly, a condition that causes babies’ heads and brains to stop growing.

Last week’s alert included Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Suriname and Venezuela.

Bottom Line: You can’t contract the Zika virus unless you get bit by an infected mosquito – of which there are none in the US. No one has been been infected with the virus within the U.S.

Some travelers to areas with ongoing Zika virus transmission will become infected while traveling but will not become sick until they return home. A spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the USA said that “reports must be treated as anecdotal because little pertinent supporting diagnostic information is available”.

Dr. Johnson says, pregnant women who have visited any of these countries recently should contact their physician.

Meanwhile, US health authorities have warned women to avoid travelling to more than 20 countries in the Americas and beyond, where Zika cases have been registered.

In Brazil, which is combatting a large outbreak, there has been a significant increase in cases of a birth defect linked to Zika.

Newborns with microcephaly have notably smaller heads and several associated health issues – typically limited brain function and a diminished life expectancy.

Such women should also talk to their health care provider to assess their risk and strictly follow precautions to avoid mosquito bites if they can’t postpone the trip.

The symptoms of the Zika virus are similar to those of dengue and chikungunya, which are diseases caused by other viruses spread by the same type of mosquitoes, according to the CDC.