Five new cases of Zika virus reported in US
Symptoms of infection with include mild headaches, rash, fever, malaise.
Houston: Mosquito-borne Zika virus has begun cropping up in the US as Florida and Illinois, for the first time, have respectively recorded three and two cases of the disease which has caused birth defects in Latin America, according to health officials.
A Hawaiian newborn was confirmed by the health officials last week as the first case in the US.
He was born with microcephaly, a Zika-associated condition involving a malformed skull and brain. Texas has also recorded its cases.
A traveller returning from El Salvador in November fell ill with fever, rash and joint pain. Following a month-long testings and investigations, it was confirmed that he had brought the virus into the country.
“The mother likely had Zika infection when she was residing in Brazil in May 2015 and her newborn acquired the infection in the womb. Neither the baby nor the mother are infectious and there was never a risk of transmission in Hawaii,” Hawaii health officials said in statement yesterday.