Aedes aegypti, a Zika virus vectorWIKIMEDIA, MUHAMMAD MAHDI KARIM
Pregnant women should for now avoid traveling to Latin American regions experiencing the most Zika virus infections, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advised Friday (January 15).
“Out of an abundance of caution,” the CDC issued a level-two alert, following reports from Brazil of microcephaly and other birth defects in babies of mothers who were infected with the virus while pregnant. Scientists have not yet established causative links between Zika virus infection and these conditions. “More studies are planned to learn more about the risks of Zika virus infection during pregnancy,” the CDC noted in its statement.
“We believe this is a fairly serious problem,” Lyle Petersen, CDC’s vector-borne diseases director, told reporters (via The New York Times). “This virus is spreading ...
