CDC Affirms Presence of Zika Virus in Fiji, Adds Country to Travel Warning List
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC has made known to the public another area that travelers should watch out for the presence of Zika virus. According to a report by NBC News on Monday, the leading national public health of institute of the United States added Fiji to its list of countries that pregnant women should avoid because of the local mosquito transmission of Zika.
The official website of CDC advised travelers coming in to the country to protect themselves from mosquito bites as the virus is primarily spread by mosquitoes known as the Aedes aegypti. Sacred Heart detailed that as of the moment, Zika is present in the US territories of Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and American Samoa. Time noted that pregnant women should avoid countries with a great number of cases including Brazil, Haiti and now Fiji.
It has been discovered that the virus has caused side effects in unborn babies. In South America, Zika cases has been linked with a spike in children born with microcephaly, which is a birth defect that causes abnormal smallness of the head due to incomplete brain development. Other cases also led to Guillain-Barre syndrome which is a rapid-onset muscle weakness. There have been cases also wherein people got infected with Zika but did not manifest symptoms. This is risky since it has potential side effects especially among pregnant women.
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It's important for those who are in the infected area to wear protection especially during the day because it has been discovered that mosquitoes which spread Zika are "aggressive daytime biters." They are also known to bite at night. Unfortunately, CDC said that there is no vaccine or medicine for Zika virus, thus, the best way there is available to prevent contracting the disease is to protect oneself from mosquito bites.
