Three persons have tested positive for the Zika Virus in New York, city officials said on Friday.
All three had travelled to areas outside the United States where the mosquito-borne ailment is spreading rapidly, the New York State Department of Health said, without specifying where.
Officials said one person has completely recovered, while the others are getting better.
US health authorities earlier on Friday expanded a travel warning for pregnant women to avoid 22 places in Latin America and the Caribbean due to the Zika virus.
It has been linked to thousands of cases of a birth defect known as microcephaly, when babies are born with abnormally small heads, which can cause brain damage. In New York, authorities have warned anyone contemplating travel to warmer regions to take care.
“We are urging residents, especially pregnant women, to check all health advisories before travelling, and take preventive measures when travelling to affected countries,” said New York State Health Commissioner, Howard Zucker.
Women in these areas are urged to take measures to avoid mosquito bites, including wearing long sleeves and pants, and applying insect repellent.
But amidst the development in New York, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has indicated that the Zika virus is expected to spread to all countries in the Americas, except Canada and Chile. The virus is already present in at least 21 of the 55 countries and territories across the Americas, the WHO said in a statement on Sunday.
It stressed that the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which carries Zika and also dengue and chikungunya viruses, is already present in all countries in the Americas besides Canada and Chile.
The WHO said since people in the region had not been exposed to Zika before it emerged in Brazil last May, they lacked immunity, which allows the virus to spread quickly. The UN health agency said it therefore “anticipates that Zika virus will continue to spread and will likely reach all countries and territories of the region where Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are found.”
WHO chief, Margaret Chan, told the opening of the organisation’s executive committee meeting in Geneva on Monday, that “the explosive spread of Zika virus to new geographical areas, with little population immunity, is (a) cause for concern, especially given the possible link between infection during pregnancy and babies born with small heads.”
She stressed that “a causal link between Zika infection in pregnancy and microcephaly has not been established,” but added that “the circumstantial evidence is suggestive and extremely worrisome.”
