CDC: Ask pregnant women about trips to Zika outbreak areas

They come as the USA warned pregnant women against travel to 22 countries that are experiencing Zika outbreaks, most in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Health experts are unsure why the virus, which was first detected in Africa in 1947 but unknown in the Americas until previous year, is spreading so rapidly in Brazil and El Salvador.

“There is much that we do not yet know about the Zika virus and its effects during pregnancy, for example whether pregnant women are of greater risk of infection than non-pregnant individuals”, ACOG President Dr. Mark DeFrancesco said in the statement reported by Medical Xpress. The virus first seen in Brazil can cause birth defects in unborn children.

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

Since an outbreak of Zika in Brazil in October, a surge in microcephaly in newborns has been reported, with nearly 4,000 cases.

While the link between Zika and microcephaly has not been confirmed, the Zika virus was found in five of the 49 babies who have died of microcephaly in Brazil so far, according to the country’s health ministry.

If it will be necessary for you to travel to South America, Central America, and/or the Caribbean, caution should be taken to avoid mosquito bites, especially if you are pregnant. “Referral to a maternal-fetal medicine or infectious disease specialist with expertise in pregnancy management is recommended”. The connection to Zika is still being investigated, and health officials note there are many causes of the condition, including genetics, and exposure during pregnancy to alcohol and certain germs and toxic chemicals. Colombia’s health minister, Alejandro Gaviria, warned “there could be serious consequences” to falling pregnant, and has advised women to postpone doing so for six to eight months.

A spokesman addd: “A small number of cases have occurred through sexual transmission or by transmission from mother to foetus via the placenta”.

There is no vaccine to combat Zika, meaning the only way for travellers to protect themselves is to avoid getting bitten by a mosquito.

The virus is particularly concerning for pregnant women because of a possible link between Zika and abnormal brain development in babies called microcephaly, though that link isn’t definitive.