If you’ve been thinking about traveling to warmer climates or have been catching a few news stories, you may have heard about something called the Zika virus — a disease spread primarily through mosquito bites.
Zika causes mild illness in some, however, we are closely tracking and responding to recent outbreaks of this virus because the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued reports that indicate Zika may be linked to serious birth defects in babies of mothers who were infected with this virus while pregnant.
While this virus is not new, it is new to the Americas. The first case was reported in Brazil just last spring. Since that time, it has spread through South and Central America, and the Caribbean. No locally transmitted Zika cases from mosquitoes have been reported in the continental U.S., but cases have been reported in travelers returning from areas where Zika is present. As Zika continues to spread in our region, the number of cases among travelers visiting or returning to the U.S. is likely to increase.
As a mother, I know how important it is to have all the information you need to keep yourself and your family healthy and safe. There is still much we don’t know about this virus. To help keep you up-to-date as we learn more, we have all the latest updates you need in one place:www.cdc.gov/Zika.
