3 pregnant women have Zika virus in Illinois
Three pregnant women have the Zika virus in Illinois and as many as five more await further testing, health officials told ABC 7 Chicago.
A total of 46 cases of the Zika virus, an illness spread by infected mosquitoes, has been reported statewide, the Illinois Department of Public Health officials said Thursday.
Eight women are actually in the Zika Virus Pregnancy Registry, the health department says, because they tested positive for a flavivirus, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was able to confirm the Zika virus in only three of those women.
Most infected people experience minor symptoms like fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis.
But in pregnant women, the virus poses a much more serious health threat to the fetus, including severe birth defects like microcephaly, or a small head. Other defects include severe brain damage, vision and hearing impairment and impaired growth.
Those infected are believed to have contracted the virus while traveling, health officials say. They do not believe infected mosquitoes now exist in Illinois.
The CDC has issued warnings for certain areas of the world where travel is not advised for pregnant women. They include Mexico and parts of the Caribbean, Central America, the Pacific islands, and South America.
The Zika virus can also be transmitted by a man to his sexual partners.
Regardless of how she's infected, once a pregnant woman is infected, health officials still don't know the likelihood of the virus being passed to the fetus or at what stage of the pregnancy the fetus is more likely to be harmed by the virus, according to the CDC.