All you need to know about the Zika virus

What is the virus and how does it spread? Questions and answers to the virus spreading in Latin America and the Carribean

What is the Zika virus?

The virus was first discovered in monkey in Uganda in 1947; its name comes from the Zika forest where it was first discovered. It is native mainly to tropical Africa, with outbreaks in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. It showed up in Brazil last year and has since been seen in many Latin American countries and Caribbean islands.

How is it spread?

It is transmitted through bites from the same kind of mosquitoes that can spread other tropical diseases, like dengue fever, chikungunya and yellow fever. It is not known to spread from person to person, although investigators are exploring the possibility that the virus can be passed on through sex.

What are the symptoms?

Most people infected with Zika virus don’t get sick. Those that do usually develop mild symptoms – fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes – which usually last no more than a week. There is no specific medicine and there is no vaccine for it.

Why is it a concern?

Brazilian health officials last October noticed a spike in cases of microcephaly in tandem with the Zika outbreak. Microcephaly is a rare birth defect in which a newborn’s head is smaller than normal and the brain may not have developed properly. The connection to Zika is still being investigated.Doctors also noted increased reports of a nerve condition called Guillain-Barre that can cause paralysis, but the link to the Zika virus is not clear.

Any travel advisories?

US health officials recommend that pregnant women should consider postponing trips to 22 destinations.

In Latin America : Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname and Venezuela. In the Caribbean: Barbados, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Martinique, St Martin and Puerto Rico. Also, Cape Verde, off the coast of western Africa; and Samoa in the South Pacific. The travel alert applies to women in any stage of pregnancy, although most of the mothers in Brazil who had babies with microcephaly were apparently infected during the first trimester.

* Associated Press