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Mexico reports 201 confirmed Zika cases

Xinhua, April 5, 2016 Adjust font size:

Mexico has registered 201 confirmed cases of infections with Zika virus, of which more than half were in the southern state of Chiapas, the Health Ministry said Monday.

Eighteen new cases of confirmed Zika infection were reported in the past week.

In its weekly update, the ministry's department of epidemiology said the 201 confirmed cases include 48 pregnant women. They are residents of Chiapas, neighboring Oaxaca, and the Gulf Coast state of Veracruz.

Some 90 percent of the 201 confirmed cases were registered in southern Mexico, including 102 cases in Chiapas and 79 in Oaxaca. The remainder of the confirmed cases were reported in nine different states.

Mexico has stepped up efforts to combat the spread of the virus, which is carried mainly by the Aedes egypti, the same mosquito that carries dengue and Chikungunya.

The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a global warning against the virus in February, suspecting it can cause brain damage to the fetus.

While Zika appears to cause only mild symptoms in most adults, Brazil has seen a spike in cases of microcephaly, or babies born with unusually small heads, among mothers infected with the virus. Endi