CDC Ships Zika Test for Pregnant Women; Puerto Rico at Risk

Health experts suggest any pregnant woman who has travelled to countries with the Zika virus should see a general practitioner immediately.

Recent laboratory analyses identified Zika virus infections in three people who died in Brazil a year ago, the health ministry said on Thursday, although authorities could not confirm that Zika alone was responsible for their deaths.

The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said they will be sending samples directly to the CDC for analysis.

The Zika virus is a mosquito-borne illness that has surged through Latin America and been linked to birth defects in children in the region.

A Victorian woman has been diagnosed with the Zika virus.

The Zika virus was transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito in a country overseas where there was active Zika virus transmission occurring, Dr Taylor said.

The diagnosis is not a public health risk, as the virus does not transmit from person to person and is not believed to be present in native mosquitoes.

But tests for this more fatal disease which kills hundreds in Brazil each year, proved negative, leading to the patient being positively tested for Zika.

Officials did not release many more details other than that the woman in DE was not pregnant, but Philadelphia’s health department is not aware of any cases among area residents.

There are also reports of a birth defect called microcephaly in babies whose mothers were infected with the virus while pregnant.

Armstrong said all cases are travel-related and none involve pregnant women. “This is the strongest evidence to date that Zika is the cause of microcephaly”.

President Barack Obama on Monday asked for more than US$1.8 billion in emergency funds to tackle the fast-spreading virus in the United States and beyond. Pregnant women are urged to avoid travel to affected areas. Finally, the development of a vaccine and treatments must be a top priority. Person-to-person transmissions have been reported via blood transfusion and sexual contact.

Some scientists have warned the virus could cause the paralyzing condition Guillain-Barre Syndrome in adults, though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says they cannot confirm the link.

The American women miscarried early in their pregnancies, according to the Web site STAT, which first reported the findings.