With the CDC’s recent confirmation of the Zika virus in Texas, pregnant women in the United States have yet another unsettling potential risk to their unborn infants to take into consideration.
The Zika virus, which was detected in a traveler from El Salvador on Monday, is believed to cause the unborn infants of infected mothers to develop abnormally small heads— a condition known as microcephaly.
Microcephaly, a congenital condition, is associated with incomplete brain development.
Zika, the suspected culprit behind some severe birth defects seen in Brazil, has previously made its way up from South America to the U.S. before. NBC News reports that while it was recently detected in a tourist in Houston, it’s not poised to spread across the nation – at least, not yet. But while it may not be in a position to spread across the nation, experts such as Dr. Peter Hotez with the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine are voicing their concerns.
Dr. Hotez told NBC News that he’s “quite worried” about the spread of the virus.
I am quite worried about Zika taking off on the Gulf coast […] We have both species of mosquito that can transmit the virus. There’s the right level of poverty and the tropical climate.
Hotez, MD, echoed this point to Medscape as he said that there’s “a perfect storm brewing for Zika virus in the US.”
There is a perfect storm brewing for Zika virus in the US. I was never worried that Ebola would take off here, but I am worried about Zika. We have 2 species of Aedes mosquitoes that can transmit Zika in our area. We also have high levels of poverty, resulting in people living without window screens and near discarded tires and other water-catching containers where the mosquitoes can breed.
Medscape reports that the recently detected case in Harris County is expected to result in new vector-control and surveillance initiatives.
