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Zika Confirmed In 3 Pregnant Florida Women

A researcher at São Paulo University in Brazil holds a container of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which can spread the Zika virus. On Tuesday, the C.D.C. issued guidelines for pregnant women who have visited countries where the virus is spreading.
AP
A researcher at São Paulo University in Brazil holds a container of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which can spread the Zika virus. On Tuesday, the C.D.C. issued guidelines for pregnant women who have visited countries where the virus is spreading.

Three pregnant Florida women have contracted theZikavirus, according to the Florida Department of Health. Researchers are studying possible links betweenZikain pregnant women and birth defects in babies.

The Florida Department of Health won’t say where in Florida the cases were confirmed, but all were contracted while traveling outside the U.S.

“We have, however, identified three pregnant women who traveled to countries affected by Zika and likely had Zika virus in those countries and returned without any symptoms,” Florida Surgeon General Dr. John Armstrong told a congressional subcommittee on Zika.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott has asked the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 250 additional Zika tests.

So far, 32 Floridians have caught the Zika virus while traveling outside the country. Only three of those cases are considered active infections. Central Florida is up to five Zika cases in Brevard, Orange, Osceola and now Seminole counties.

Central Floridians have caught Zika in Puerto Rico, Haiti, Colombia and Venezuela.

Zika is mainly spread by yellow fever mosquitoes, found year-round in Florida. Officials are asking residents to dump any standing water to keep the mosquitoes at bay.

In addition, the CDC is  studying 14 more cases of Zika that may have been contracted sexually. Three more countries have been  added to the list of those pregnant travelers or those looking to become pregnant.

Reporter Abe Aboraya is a reporter with WMFE in Orlando.  WMFE is a partner with Health News Florida, which receives support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Copyright 2016 Health News Florida

Health News Florida reporter Abe Aboraya works for WMFE in Orlando. He started writing for newspapers in high school. After graduating from the University of Central Florida in 2007, he spent a year traveling and working as a freelance reporter for the Seattle Times and the Seattle Weekly, and working for local news websites in the San Francisco Bay area. Most recently Abe worked as a reporter for the Orlando Business Journal. He comes from a family of health care workers.
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