Pregnant Women Warned to Avoid Caribbean and Latin America

A virus in mostly Central and South America had been linked to brain deformities in newborns and miscarriages, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. As a result, the CDC is warning women to avoid traveling the Central and South America if they are pregnant.

The virus, known as Zika, has been spreading across 14 countries, including Mexico and even some islands in the Caribbean, such as Puerto Rico and Martinique. The CDC found evidence of the virus in placentas from women in the Brazil, leading to miscarriages and infant death shortly after delivery due to a rare condition known as microcephaly. Currently, there is no vaccination to combat the virus, which is spread through mosquito bites, and there isn’t medicine to fight it once diagnosed.

If you are pregnant or may be pregnant during upcoming travel, the CDC recommends avoiding the following:
* Brazil
* Colombia
* El Salvador
* French Guiana
* Guatemala
* Haiti
* Honduras
* Martinique
* Mexico
* Panama
* Paraguay
* Puerto Rico
* Suriname
* Venezuela

–Lissa Poirot