Stay Away From These Countries If You’re Pregnant, Says CDC
A birth defect called microcephaly , in which babies are born with very small brains, has affected thousands more than usual in Brazil this year . The culprit could be the Zika virus , which has no vaccine, no medication and is transmitted by mosquitoes.
Brazil has told women in its northeastern region may not become pregnant until authorities find a way to control the disease. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a warning for pregnant women and women trying to conceive: Stay away from 14 neighborhoods, including popular holiday destinations in Central and South America. If you need to travel there, first talk to your doctor and “follow the directions strictly to avoid mosquito bites during your trip.” This includes the one or two punch permethrin we mentioned earlier (it also works against mosquitoes).
However, there is an important caveat: we don’t know for sure if the Zika virus is the cause of microcephaly. However, this is the main hypothesis. Something is definitely happening: there were 147 cases of microcephaly in Brazil in 2014, and in 2015 there were thousands . (The Zika virus may have appeared during the 2014 FIFA World Cup .) Recently, a mother who came to Brazil during pregnancy gave birth to a baby with microcephaly at home in Hawaii , and she also tested positive for Zika virus. The CDC admits there is no such link. has not been confirmed, and it is said that his warning was prompted by “over-caution.”
Update: the list of countries is expanding. Here are all of the current CDC travel warnings for the Zika virus .