As officials in Colombia, El Salvador and Brazil warn women that the threat of their babies being brain damaged by Zika Virus is so large that it is safer to avoid pregnancy entirely until 2018, a case of the untreatable disease has been confirmed in Europe.
A Danish man who travelled to Central and South America has been diagnosed with Zika Virus after reporting to Aarhus hospital with a fever, headache and aching muscles yesterday.
While the virus is not thought to be life threatening in adults (the Danish patient has since been released and is recovering at home) and is unlikely to spread given that it is mainly transmitted by mosquitoes, it is cause for concern for pregnant travellers.
Research suggest that newborns of mothers who had Zika virus infection during pregnancy are at risk of developing microcephaly, a congenital condition associated with incomplete brain development.
As the situation worsens in Brazil, it is estimated that up to 4,000 infants have been born with microcephaly after their mothers contracted the virus during pregnancy. The government is now distributing mosquito repellent to some 400,000 pregnant women, but is said to be losing the battle against the disease.
The United States documented its first case of mother to fetus transmission on January 15 this year.
Click here for a full list of destinations to avoid if you are pregnant. For more information, see the Health Protection Surveillance Centre.
