what to know about Zika Virus.

You may not have heard of it until very
recently, but new cases of the Zika
virus continue to pop up around the
world. Spreading mostly in Latin
America and the Caribbean, the virus
has now been confirmed in three
travelers from the
UK.
A statement from Public Health
England said those infected had
recently traveled through South
America, but it is not clear if the
people involved have since returned to
the UK.
The Britons travelled to Colombia,
Suriname and Guyana, where they are
suspected of contracting the
mosquito-borne disease. Public Health
England has not confirmed if any of
the three are pregnant.
Why is Zika dangerous?
There is no vaccine for the virus,
which can cause fever, rashes, joint
pains, and conjunctivitis within days of
being contracted. For most of those
infected, the virus causes a short
illness lasting between two and seven
days. However, in some rare cases, it
can result in serious illness and death.
Infants are most at risk from Zika, as
mothers can pass the infection on to
their fetus, leading to microcephaly – a
rare birth defect where babies are born
with abnormally small heads and
developmental delays.
Treatment for the Zika virus focuses
on pain relief and fever reduction, with
some patients also given
antihistamines for itchy skin rashes.
Preventative measures focus on
general mosquito bite prevention, such
as using insecticides, and special nets
and screens.
Where it came from
The Zika virus is mainly found in South
America, Africa, the Pacific Islands,
and Southeast Asia.
The virus was first discovered in Africa
in 1947, circulating in humans,
animals and mosquitoes with few
documented outbreaks. In wasn’t until
2007 that an Asian strain of the virus
caused the first outbreak outside of
Africa, in Micronesia. The same strain
caused an outbreak in French
Polynesia in 2013, which has since
spread to the Pacific Islands and South
America.
Within nine months of the first case
being confirmed in the northeast of
Brazil in May 2015, most Brazilian
states had reported locally-acquired
cases.
Brazil has seen a surge in outbreaks of
the fever since 2015. The country had
seen an average of 150 babies a year
born with microcephaly, but from
October 2015 to January 2016 that
number rocketed to over 3,500,
according to the Brazilian Ministry of
Health.
In the US, “over a dozen” cases of
Zika have been confirmed so far.
Currently, one infant diagnosed with
the condition in Hawaii is carrying the
virus – the first case of Zika-
connected microcephaly in the US.
READ MORE: Over a dozen cases of
birth defect-causing Zika virus
confirmed in 5 states
Israel reported its first case of the
virus this week, in a two-year-old girl
returning from a visit to Colombia.
The US Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) have expanded
their list of countries currently under a
Zika-related travel warning to 22:
Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French
Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras,
Martinique, Mexico, Panama,
Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela, Puerto
Rico, Barbados, Bolivia, Ecuador,
Guadeloupe, Saint Martin, Guyana,
Cape Verde, and Samoa.
Public Health England has said it
expects to see further cases of the
virus spread internationally, especially
“where the mosquito vector is
present.”
How Zika spreads
The virus is primarily spread to people
through the bite of an infected
mosquito. It cannot be spread through
human contact, as Brazil’s health
ministry noted on Twitter.
However, a 2013 study found that in
some circumstances, the virus could
potentially spread through sexual
intercourse.
The link between Zika and
microcephaly has yet to be confirmed,
but recent cases of infant deaths in
Brazil – where doctors have been left
with no explanation other than Zika –
have been enough evidence for the
CDC to target pregnant women with
their warnings about the virus.
READ MORE: Genetically engineered
mosquitoes battle Zika virus in Brazil
The Centers say that, although rare, a
mother who becomes infected with the
virus near her delivery date can pass
the virus on to the newborn around the
time of birth. However, they add “there
are no reports of infants getting Zika
virus through breastfeeding.”
Affected countries have been taking a
range of precautions to prevent the
spread of the virus, such as fumigation
in Venezuela and Honduras: