Back in January, the CDC recommended pregnant women avoid traveling to Zika virus-prevalent areas. Just six months later, more than 60 countries or territories could claim new local transmission of the virus, according to The JAMA Network.
Here are five observations:
1. Almost 1,700 cases of travel-associated Zika infections were documented in the United States by Aug. 4.
2. By Aug. 4, 479 pregnant women were infected in the United States.
3. Florida, alone, saw five symptomatic and eight asymptomatic locally acquired Zika infections in the Miami region.
4. Puerto Rico is experiencing an intense spread of the virus, with an estimated 6,000 to 11,000 pregnant women infected in 2016.
5. Based on the recurrence of other flavivirus outbreaks, Zika will likely strike large populations again. Therefore, vaccine research requires speedy attention to come out ahead of this epidemic.
