- 157 pregnant women in the US and 122 in US territories test positive
- Majority of 122 expectant mothers in territories in Puerto Rico, CDC says
- Fewer than a dozen of infected women being monitored have had miscarriages or given birth to babies with birth defects
- Scientific evidence has linked Zika to microcepaly where babies are born with smaller than usual heads and often brain damage
- Obama says all Zika cases in US so far appear to be related to travel
Reuters
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Lizzie Parry For Dailymail.com
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Almost 300 pregnant women in the US and US territories have tested positive for the Zika virus, health officials said today.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed 157 expectant mothers in America, and 122 across US territories, primarily Puerto Rico, have been infected.
Experts said that so far fewer than a dozen of the infected pregnant women they are tracking in the US and Puerto Rick have had miscarriages or babies born with birth defects.
Some 157 pregnant women in the US and another 122 in US territories, primarily Puerto Rico have tested positive for infection with the Zika virus, which is linked to the birth defect microcephaly, where babies are born with smaller than normal heads and brain damage
This marks the first time the agency has disclosed the number of Zika-infected pregnant women in the United States and its territories.
It comes as President Obama today said all Zika cases in the US appear to be linked to travel to areas where the virus is rife, namely Central and South America.
Health officials have determined that the mosquito-borne virus, which can also be transmitted through unprotected sex with an infected person.
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Furthermore scientific evidences suggests it can cause microcephaly, a birth defect marked by unusually small head size, and can lead to severe brain abnormalities and developmental problems in babies.
The agency said it has dramatically increased its testing capacity for Zika in the US as it prepares for an increase in cases during the summer mosquito season.
Virtually all the Zika cases in the continental United States so far have been in people returning from countries where Zika is prevalent, such as Brazil, or through sexual transmission by travelers.
Virtually all the Zika cases in the continental United States so far have been in people returning from countries where Zika is prevalent, such as Brazil, or through sexual transmission by travelers
The latest report comes at a time when US health officials have been clamoring for adequate funding to support mosquito protection and eradication, development of anti-Zika vaccines and better diagnostics, and long-term studies needed to follow children born to infected mothers and to better understand the sexual transmission risk.
The Obama Administration has requested $1.9 billion in emergency Zika funding.
The US Senate approved $1.1 billion of that request.
The US House of Representatives, however, voted to allocate $622.1 million financed through cuts to existing programs, such as for Ebola, which US health officials have called inadequate and shortsighted.
The World Health Organization has said there is strong scientific consensus that Zika can also cause Guillain-Barre, a rare neurological syndrome that causes temporary paralysis in adults.
The connection between Zika and microcephaly first came to light last fall in Brazil, which has now confirmed more than 1,300 cases of microcephaly that it considers to be related to Zika infections in the mothers.
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