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News > Latin America

A Few Cases of Zika Virus Uncovered in Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Male Aedes albopictus mosquitoes are seen in this picture. Zika virus is among the viruses spead by the species.

    Male Aedes albopictus mosquitoes are seen in this picture. Zika virus is among the viruses spead by the species. | Photo: Reuters

Published 17 January 2016
Opinion

The U.S. has warned pregnant women from travelling to a number of countries across Latin America and the Caribbean after new cases of the Zika virus were found.  

Ecuador, Haiti and Hawaii have recorded new cases of the Zika virus in the past few days, spurring fears that the mosquito borne infection, similar to dengue fever, could spread further.

On Saturday U.S. health officials confirmed that a baby born with brain damage at a hospital in Oahu, Hawaii, was infected by the virus in what is the first case of the disease in a birth on U.S. soil.

Reuters reports the mother became ill while living in Brazil last year and the baby was likely infected in the womb.

NEWS: World Health Organization Warns South America of Zika Virus

Veronica Espinosa, Ecuador’s deputy cabinet minister responsible for monitoring outbreaks, told reporters Friday two new cases of the virus in the country were detected last week.

The previous cases of Zika in Ecuador were found in four people who arrived from other countries with the fever, however, the latest were transmitted on Ecuadorian soil.

"We have now detected, confirmed by laboratory tests, the first two native cases. That is, we now have cases of the virus being transmitted by mosquito bites that happened in Ecuadorian territory," she said. 

Ecuadorian Health Minister Margarita Guevara said a woman caught the virus in the northwest and a boy became infected in the southwest of the country. She told reporters that both patients were in stable conditions.

Also on Friday, Haiti's Public Health Minister Florence Duperval Guillaume, confirmed five cases of the Zika virus on the island in a press conference.   

All the cases are in the area of Port-au-Prince, the densely populated capital of the Caribbean island.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control quickly warned pregnant women to avoid travel to 14 countries and territories in the Caribbean and Latin America due to the spread of virus Friday.

"Out of an abundance of caution, pregnant women (are) advised to consider postponing travel to areas where Zika virus transmission is ongoing," the CDC said.

The level two travel alert applies to Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela and Puerto Rico.

The CDC action was prompted by tests that found Zika in fetal and newborn tissue of Brazilian babies affected with microcephaly.

Microcephaly is a neurological disorder that results in babies being born with abnormally small heads, causing severe developmental issues, brain damage and sometimes death. 

The viral disease usually can also cause mild fever, rash, headaches, arthralgia, myalgia, asthenia and non-purulent conjunctivitis, with one out of four people affected not developing symptoms at all, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

In December the Brazilian Ministry of Health issued a warning urging its citizens to take precautions during the country’s holiday season in order to reduce their exposure to a deadly mosquito-borne disease.

Brazil has discovered cases of microcephaly in 20 of its 27 states, notably in Pernambuco, where there were 1,031 reported cases and three deaths from the condition in 2015.

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