US Virgin Islands reports its first Zika virus case

Countries in South America and Central America are urging women not to get pregnant because of the suspected birth defect the virus might cause. AAA said they are monitoring the situation, and recommend people purchase travel insurance so they could change plans, if necessary.

The Brazilian authorities believe the increase is caused by an outbreak of the mosquito-borne Zika virus.

Dr. Johnson says that pregnant women who have visited any of these countries recently should contact their physician. “My son was born before this”, said Fatima Mejia, who took her 17-day-old infant to a clinic outside the Salvadoran capital for a checkup. “I already have three children and I don’t want problems”.

Marcos Aleman reported from San Salvador, El Salvador. According to rights groups, rape at the hands of stepfathers, relatives and gang members is the number one reason.

That’s also not clear, although brain development occurs throughout pregnancy.

The New York State Department of Health announced on its website late Friday that three people in the state had tested positive for the Zika virus.

He said the government decided to make the announcement because 5,397 cases of the Zika virus had been detected in El Salvador in 2015 and the first few days of this year. Luiza, a Zika victim, was born in October with a head that was just 11.4 inches (29 centimeters) in diameter, below the range defined as healthy.

He said: “It’s a mosquito that is endemic in the whole of Latin America and the Caribbean, and the population of the Americas was not exposed to the virus, so there’s no immunity to it”.

The virus results in a short illness lasting between two and seven days in most cases, and can rarely cause death.

In this December 22, 2015 photo, a baby named Luiza has her head measured by a neurologist in Caruaru, Brazil.

So far Brazil is the only country investigating a spike in microcephaly cases, which is another puzzling aspect of the outbreak in that the virus is more widespread, Slifka said. The new CDC report notes documented cases of infection from sexual transmission, blood transfusion and laboratory exposure. Transmission had previously, in large part, been isolated to parts of Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands. “And so we really are advising that pregnant women seriously consider postponing travel to these areas if possible”, says Beth Bell from the CDC. Now, the CDC is recommending that pregnant women avoid the following countries: Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Saint Martin, Suriname, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Barbados, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin, Guyana, Cape Verde, and Samoa.