Zika virus diagnosed in UK as women face more warnings to delay pregnancy

Three cases of the Zika virus have been confirmed in the UK in travellers returning from Colombia, Suriname and Guyana, as the epidemic spreads to more than 20 Latin and American countries. The mosquito-borne virus does “not spread directly from person to person”, Public Health England said in a statement, though "a small number of cases have occurred through sexual transmission or by transmission from mother to foetus via the placenta". Zika “does not occur naturally in the UK”. The virus, for which there is no known cure, is thought to cause microcephaly in unborn children, a condition which stops babies’ brains growing and causes abnormally small heads.

Since an outbreak of Zika in Brazil in October, a surge in microcephaly in newborns has been reported, with almost 4,000 cases.

The epidemic has prompted authorities in Colombia, Ecuador, El Savador and Jamaica to advise women against pregnancy. Colombia's health minister, Alejandro Gaviria, warned "there could be serious consequences" to falling pregnant, and has advised women to postpone doing so for six to eight months. His advice was "a good way to communicate the risk", he told Reuters.

Women in El Salvador should wait until 2018 before getting pregnant, the deputy health minister Eduardo Espinoza said, while Jamaica has asked women to avoid pregnancy for 6 to 12 months.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/zika-virus-diagnosed-in-uk-as-women-face-warnings-to-delay-pregnancy-a6828751.html

I think you meant to post this in UK and Ireland, Europe.

No I meant to post it as it mainly refers to latin Ameica

Ahhh...my misunderstanding.