US CDC monitors 320 pregnant US women with Zika
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that it is monitoring 320 pregnant US women with laboratory evidence of Zika virus infection, up from 287 women a week earlier.
But the number of babies born in the United States with birth defects linked to Zika infection in mothers during pregnancy or lost pregnancies linked to the virus, remained unchanged from last week’s report at 7 and 5, respectively, according to a CDC registry created last month.The registry compiles poor outcomes of pregnancies with laboratory evidence of possible Zika virus infection in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The latest figures are as of June 30.
The alarming rise in cases of the birth defect microcephaly and other severe fetal brain abnormalities linked to the mosquito-borne virus reported in Brazil, the country hardest hit by the outbreak, has raised concern about Zika throughout the Americas.
Brazil has confirmed more than 1,600 cases of microcephaly linked to Zika.Infants with microcephaly are born with abnormally small heads and may experience potentially disabling developmental problems.
All reported US cases of Zika have so far involved people who traveled to areas with a current outbreak, but health experts have warned that local transmission cases are likely to occur in the coming weeks during summer mosquito season. Gulf Coast states, such as Florida and Texas, are seen as particularly vulnerable.
The virus can also be transmitted via unprotected sex with an infected man.
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