A Honduran woman infected with Zika virus delivered a baby girl with microcephaly yesterday at a New Jersey hospital, the second such case to be reported in the United States.
In other developments, experts from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday estimated that more than 216 million traveler-visits are made to the United States each year from Zika-hit countries.
Ultrasound revealed birth defects
The 31-year-old woman was diagnosed in her home country, with test results confirmed by the CDC, then traveled to New Jersey, where she has family, for further treatment, the Associated Press (AP) reported today, citing Abdulla Al-Kahn, MD, director of maternal-fetal medicine at Hackensack University Medical Center, where the woman delivered a baby girl by cesarean section.
An ultrasound early in the woman's pregnancy was normal, but a repeat test last week showed birth defects, including microcephaly, Al-Kahn told the AP. He said further testing is needed to confirm the findings in the infant.
In January, health officials in Hawaii announced a Zika-linked microcephaly case, the nation's first, involving a baby born to a woman who had lived in Brazil, the outbreak's epicenter, early in her pregnancy.
Then in the middle of May, Puerto Rico—one of the areas reporting local transmission—reported its first suspected Zika-linked microcephaly, based on fetal ultrasound findings. The woman turned the fetus over to authorities, and it's not clear if she miscarried or ended her pregnancy.
The CDC in February reported on nine pregnant travelers from the United States who had lab-confirmed Zika infections, with outcomes that ranged from early miscarriages to one severe microcephaly case to two healthy pregnancies. Two of the pregnancies were continuing without any known complications.
In its latest update on Zika infections in US pregnant women, the CDC said 310 cases have been reported so far, 168 on the US mainland and 142 from affected US territories, most of them in Puerto Rico.
Travel patterns between US and Zika zones
The CDC's estimates of passenger visits from areas reporting local Zika transmission are based on the list of 33 countries and 3 territories that were on the travel notice list as of Mar 8 and data on travel by land, sea, and air for 2014 and 2015. The team detailed its findings yesterday in Public Library of Science (PLoS) Currents Outbreaks.
The investigators also made estimates for other patterns, such as cruise trips departing from the United States to destinations reporting Zika transmission. The top five destinations were Mexico, St. Marten, St. Thomas, Jamaica, and Haiti.
States with the largest number of arrivals from Zika-affected areas were Texas, by land, and Florida, by sea and air.
Of the 216 million annual journeys from Zika areas to the United States, an estimated 51.7 million involved childbearing-aged women, and 2.3 million involved pregnant women.
Providing an analysis of travel patterns can be useful for targeting public health interventions and directing resources, the authors concluded.
See also:
Jun 1 AP story
Feb 26 CIDRAP News story "CDC notes Zika in 9 pregnant women, cases of sexual transmission"
May 13 CIDRAP News story "CDC funds Zika-risk areas as Puerto Rico reports microcephaly"
May 31 PLoS Curr Outbreak report
