USA: More cases of Zika virus causing birth defects

The United States has recorded 3 more cases of Zika infection - a virus transmitted from mosquitoes, which can cause birth defects.

Notices from health authorities say they are all in the state of Florida and are both cases of returning from Latin American countries.

According to Florida Department of Health spokesman, the first two cases were discovered in Miami-Dade County, two patients had been to Colombia in December 2015.

The third patient lives in Hillsborough County and just returned from Venezuela last month.

The agency urges people to strengthen their protection against mosquito-borne diseases , by cleaning up stagnant water, using mosquito protection measures for themselves and their families.

Zika virus is transmitted by mosquitoes.(Source: wsj.com).

Earlier, January 16, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the first case in the country infected with Zika virus.

The patient was a newborn in Hawaii, USA, was found to have congenital headaches.

The mother was confirmed to be infected with Zika virus in the early stages of pregnancy when she lived in Brazil, and the virus was later transmitted from mother to fetus. Currently both patients are being treated and in stable condition.

Zika virus is spreading in South America and Caribbean in a few weeks back . However, so far, no cases have been identified as being infected in the United States.

The US government has issued travel warnings for 14 countries and territories in the Caribbean and Latin America because of the risk of infection caused by Zika. According to CDC, since 2007 there have been 26 cases of Zika virus in the US.

Zika virus belongs to the family of Flaviviridae virus and the infection is transmitted through infection by Aedes mosquito .

The most common symptoms of viral infections are fever, conjunctivitis, headache, muscle and joint pain, rash. The illness lasts 4-7 days but no death notice has been reported.

For pregnant women, the virus leaves a fetal malformation with brain atrophy. There is no vaccine to prevent Zika virus.

The virus was first discovered in Rhesus monkeys in Zika forest in Uganda since 1947 .

Zika virus outbreaks have been recorded in Africa, Southeast Asia, islands in the Pacific and some countries in the Americas.