Nearly 300 pregnant women in US infected with Zika
Nearly 300 pregnant women across the United States and its territories have tested positive for the Zika virus, including over 150 inside the US, according to the latest government figures.
In the US, 157 pregnant women have tested positive for the disease and 122 have tested positive in US territories, primarily Puerto Rico, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday.
This was the first time the federal agency had disclosed the number of Zika-infected pregnant women in the United States and its territories.
Overall, there have been 544 cases of Zika reported in the US and 800 cases in US territories.
The virus is spread through mosquitoes and sexual contact. Symptoms of Zika virus include mild fever, conjunctivitis, headache, joint pain and rashes.
The virus can cause microcephaly, a birth defect marked by unusually small head size, and can lead to severe brain abnormalities and developmental problems in babies.
"One challenge of this Zika virus outbreak is the lack of understanding of the magnitude of risk and the spectrum of outcomes associated with Zika virus infection during pregnancy," CDC researchers wrote in the report.
The CDC said it has dramatically increased its testing capacity for Zika in the United States as it girds for an increase in cases during the summer mosquito season.
The latest report comes at a time when US health officials have been rushing to receive 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 White House has requested $1.9 billion in emergency Zika funding. On Thursday, the US Senate approved $1.1 billion of that request.
The disease has spread to dozens of countries and island territories, primarily in South and Central America, as well as the Caribbean. Hundreds of babies with that devastating condition already have been born in countries such as Columbia and Brazil, where the current Zika outbreak began last year.
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