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U.S. reports a dozen travel-related Zika cases: report

Xinhua, January 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

About a dozen Americans who recently traveled to countries where the Zika virus is spreading have contracted the mosquito-borne virus, the Washington Post reported Thursday.

The confirmed cases of Zika, which is believed to cause birth defects, were residents of at least five U.S. states, including Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey and Texas, the report quoted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as saying.

Among these states, the Illinois Department of Public Health said in a statement that two pregnant Illinois women have tested positive for the Zika virus and that doctors are monitoring their health and pregnancies.

Last week, the U.S. CDC issued a travel alert advising pregnant women and those trying to become pregnant to consider postponing travel to the areas where Zika virus transmission is ongoing.

Locally acquired Zika was reported for the first time in Brazil in May 2015, and the virus has since been reported in 14 countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean: Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela, and Puerto Rico.

According to Brazilian health authorities, more than 3,500 microcephaly cases were reported in Brazil between October 2015 and January 2016. Some of the affected infants have had a severe type of microcephaly and some have died. Researchers have been investigating the possible association between Zika virus infection and microcephaly in infants.

In the past, outbreaks of Zika virus infection have occurred in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands.

Currently, there is no vaccine to prevent or medicine to treat Zika, which is transmitted primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito.

About one in five people infected with Zika virus will develop symptoms, including fever, rash, joint pain, and pink eye.

The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting from several days to a week. Severe disease requiring hospitalization is uncommon and the case fatality rate is low. Enditem