The number of travel-associated Zika virus cases in California are now 46, as of last Friday, according to the California Department of Public Health. This count includes nine cases in pregnant woman and one case classified as sexually transmitted.
This is an increase in one case during the past week.
Los Angeles and San Diego Counties have reported the most with 12 and 11 cases, respectively.
Nationally, the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) has reported 503 imported cases since 2015. Of this total, 48 are in pregnant women and 10 are sexually transmitted.
Zika virus disease is a disease caused by the Zika virus, which is spread to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito. The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week after being bitten by an infected mosquito.
People usually don’t get sick enough to go to the hospital, and they very rarely die of Zika. For this reason, many people might not realize they have been infected.
However, Zika virus infection during pregnancy can cause a serious birth defect called microcephaly, as well as other severe fetal brain defects. Once a person has been infected, he or she is likely to be protected from future infections.
Related:
- Zika history: A timeline to a public health crisis
- Zika in the US: ‘Threat of local outbreak likely’, according to Fauci
- Zika virus: Rapid mutations allowed virus to spread swiftly around the globe suggests UCLA researchers
- Zika virus: Male-to-male sexual transmission documented
