Research begins into possibility of a vaccine for Zika virus

White House spokesman Josh Earnest says the USA government will make a more concerted effort in the days ahead to communicate with Americans about the risks associated with the Zika virus and steps they can take to avoid it.

Amid warnings from governments and multilateral health agencies, pregnant women in Brazil and beyond are now seeking to avoid exposure to the mosquito, at least until contagion is contained or scientists develop a vaccine, which could still take years. “For the women involved that is very, very serious”, said Dr. Tony Fauci, head of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The mother was reportedly living in Brazil in May 2015 and her baby acquired the infection in the womb.

President Barack Obama met Tuesday with his senior health advisers, including Fauci, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell and Centers for Disease Control Director Thomas Frieden.

The Zika virus is quickly expanding its reach, particularly in the Americas.

A person who resides in Nassau County had traveled to a country with documented transmission of the virus and developed symptoms in August, had a mild illness, was not hospitalized and has completely recovered, a county health department spokeswoman said.

Zika is commanding worldwide attention because of an alarming connection between the virus and microcephaly, a neurological disorder that results in babies being born with abnormally small heads.

Health officials in Helsinki say that a Finnish tourist was infected by the Zika virus after visiting the Maldives last summer. “We are hopeful that we don’t get a case”, she says, adding that although yellow fever has also been spreading through the same mosquito, India is yet to report such a case. Colombian officials say they’ve recorded more than 13,500 suspected cases and President Juan Manuel Santos said there could be 600,000 cases by year’s end.

Puerto Rico epidemiologist Brenda Rivera said Tuesday the majority of cases are in the island’s southeast region. Pregnant women who are infected with the virus can transmit this virus into the amniotic fluid causing infection.

Last week a baby born with microcephaly in Hawaii became the first newborn to test positive for the Zika virus on USA soil. But the disease is running rampant in Latin America, now being found in the USA and is blamed for creating thousands of children with birth defects. The advice covers which situations call for Zika testing and when to do fetal ultrasounds. Until those efforts bear fruit, health officials are implementing traditional mosquito control techniques such as spraying pesticides and emptying standing water receptacles where mosquitoes breed.

Meanwhile, officials in the Argentine province of Corrientes have declared an epidemiological alert due to an outbreak of dengue in the area. No cases of microcephaly or Guillain-Barre suspected of being linked to Zika.

Aedes aegypti is the primary spreader of Zika and some other tropical diseases, largely because of its unusually cozy relationship with people.