CDC Expands Travel Warnings for Zika Virus

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have issued an expanded travel warning for regions where travelers may be at risk for contracting Zika virus. These regions include Puerto Rico, Barbados, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Columbia, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Saint Martin, Samoa, Suriname, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and the US Virgin Islands.

Symptoms of Zika virus infection include initial fever, rash, joint tenderness and sometimes pink eye (conjunctivitis). The infection is without symptoms in 80% of those infected and may be sexually transmitted. Zika virus infection ahs been associated with congenital defects including microcephaly (small head and brain) and eye abnormalities in children of infected mothers. The CDC recommends vigilance against mosquito bites for pregnant women and those attempting pregnancy who do travel to areas where Zika virus has been reported.

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