After Africa’s Ebola epidemic from 2013-2015 (although new cases have recently been reported in Sierra Leone), international travellers have now been warned about the outbreak of a different viral epidemic – this time in South America and the Caribbean.
The US has issued advisories against travel to 22 countries or territories that pose a risk of infection with Zika, a mosquito-borne virus.
It now has travel warnings for Barbados, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Cape Verde, Samoa, Saint Martin, Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela, and the US Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Although it usually only causes mild fevers and rashes, and an estimated 80% of those infected show no symptoms at all, Zika has been suspected of leading to microcephaly, a condition in which babies are born with unusually small heads. And, with the virus having been detected in male sperm, there is also a possibility it could be transmitted by sexual activity.
The virus is passed on to humans by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is also known to carry the dengue, yellow fever and Chikungunya viruses.
