DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... CDC Reports 279 Pregnant Women With Zika in U.S.

More than 270 pregnant women in the U.S. are infected with the Zika virus and are at risk of their babies being born with birth defects, federal health officials announced Friday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated the way it reports Zika-affected pregnancies. The goal: to get a better grip on the true risk of a woman having a baby with a birth defect after a Zika infection.

The CDC said the new numbers show 279 women tested positive for the virus. This includes 157 women in the 50 states and Washington, D.C., plus 122 in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and other U.S. territories.

So far, fewer than a dozen have had an "adverse event," such as a miscarriage or evidence that the fetus has a birth defect, CDC officials said.

"These new numbers reflect a broader group of pregnant women — pregnant women who have any laboratory evidence of possible Zika virus infection, and whether or not they recalled symptoms — compared with numbers previously reported," the CDC said in a statement.

The numbers include women who have already given birth, those who have miscarried and those who may have had abortions because of birth defects.

The CDC has been recommending for months that any woman who's pregnant who thinks she could have been exposed to the virus get tested. This includes women who have traveled to Zika-affected areas, and women whose sexual partners have.

The virus is transmitted mostly by mosquitoes, but it can be sexually transmitted, also.

There's now no doubt Zika causes severe and devastating birth defects.

What has not been clear is whether the fetus of a woman who is infected but never had any symptoms is likely to have a birth defect. So CDC had only reported some of the cases of pregnant women with Zika.

But some studies have suggested that a fetus can be affected even if the mother never knew she had Zika. The virus often doesn't cause symptoms. The CDC is now counting all women who have tested positive, and is reporting those numbers publicly.

Dr. Margaret Honein, who heads CDC's birth defects branch, said new numbers will be reported every Thursday. The count will include women whose test results are a little confusing. Dengue virus is a close relative of Zika and tests often confuse the two viruses.

"Our goal is to track all Zika-affected pregnancies," Honein told reporters during a telephone briefing.

The CDC is encouraging all obstetricians and gynecologists to ask their patients about possible Zika infection and to report it to their state health departments so that CDC can get an accurate picture of just how many pregnant women are affected.

"It is critical for pregnant women to have information on whether or not they are likely to be infected," Honein said.

Having a complete count of Zika-affected pregnancies will give CDC a critical piece of data so researchers there can calculate the risk from Zika. Right now, no one can say what the odds are that a woman infected with Zika will have a baby with birth defects. This is very difficult to calculate, because Zika doesn't cause symptoms in all people it infects, or even in most people it infects.

"This information will help healthcare providers as they counsel pregnant women affected by Zika and is essential for planning at the federal, state, and local levels for clinical, public health, and other services needed to support pregnant women and families affected by Zika," the CDC said in a statement.

The federal government is embroiled in a fight with Congress over paying for the increased surveillance and testing, and in preparing for Zika's arrival in the U.S. More than 500 travelers have carried the virus with them from areas where it's circulating. And once mosquito season really heats up, local U.S. outbreaks are likely, health officials say.

The House and Senate have not agreed on funding, and majorities in neither house want to provide the full $1.9 billion President Barack Obama has asked for.

Congress needs to "get moving," Obama said Friday as he was updated by senior health officials on the Zika epidemic.

"This is not something where we can build a wall to prevent. Mosquitoes don't go through customs," Obama said. "Congress needs to get me a bill."

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/zika-vi...77541?cid=sm_fb

Where is 40 when we need him.

When have I ever needed him? lol

All I know is he would have opinions about this.

So it's mosquitoes that triggers the return to the planet of the apes...

There's no doubt about that. Let me give it a try.

It's all Obama's fault!

More likely that God is mad.

lol, yep.

anyway,

However tasteless Obama's comments were about this, he has a point:

mosquitos don't get through customs. so this is once again people who traveled and came back.

So hopefully Erik doesn't start his nonsense again.

I hope the CDC can figure this out. it sucks that PR got hit with this the hardest. My mom is really sad about that.

Along with that, I have a friend that - well, his job is spraying for mosquitoes, ticks, etc.

He's milking this zika virus for all he can. Trust me.

He even put up a chart that showed how many people in the u.s. had been infected with zika. The problem with his chart was, it showed that not 1 single person in the states had been infected from from a mosquito bite here in the states.

Every person infected, according to his link, had been in P.R. or other places where zika was prevalent.

Just had to mention my name, didn't you? I honestly wasn't going to even put anything on this thread, as I've given my warnings about allowing anyone to cross the borders. Just a quick question for you.

What's the difference between someone that has traveled and came back, and someone that crossed the border without leave that hails from the same country as the virus?

That's because we haven't gotten into mosquito season for most of the US yet. It will take skeeters biting infected people, then transmitting it to other people.. it could take a while before it gets going but if it gets going, it could spread exponentially.

vaccinations, legal ID(passports, green card, etc), probably the ability to speak english (to be fair, there are tons of Americans who suck at english, as well).

quick question for you:

what's the difference between a neutral post and linking a virus to something your the most vocally against?

i was just busting you, but if you wanna get your hands dirty again...

I guess it would depend on why I'm against it. There are far more viruses crossing the border than Zika. TB is on the rise in the US again, as are many others. As I have stated before, I get my info from a virologist, who has spoken out on many websites and to me about what will happen when we let just anyone in the country. The virologist I speak of, my wife, has worked with the government, including working with NIH, CDC, and NIST. She will not come on this site as she will not suffer the ignorant who will only ignore her words.

Rampant disease may not happen in the next few years, but it's coming.

right, the problem is that everybody on the board is well aware of illegals coming over here, as they don't have proper medical treatment and vaccinations prior to coming over here.

with all due respect to your wife, which i have no doubt in my mind she's an absolute baller in her field....we kinda already know that. BTW, with regards to the disease itself, who in there right mind on this board would question a Virologist when talking about symptoms, effects, treatments, causes, etc? that's how somebody gets schooled so bad that they should get banned from posting. That's like me trying to tell devil what it's like to be a cop on a daily basis. Or DC what being in construction truly means. Or telling Arch how to properly run a business. Or Rocket what it's like to teach natives in Alaska. or 40 and Eve how to troll properly.

but my beef is once again, your statement with regards to a specific disease, like Zika, the same CDC that already said people are going over there and bringing it back, yet you tried to push the narrative as if it was otherwise.

And the CDC changes their story almost weekly. The information you keep proclaiming is old. That virus is being brought in from anyone that has been in the area from which the disease in endemic.

When this started, the CDC barely even mentioned it. Now they are warning that anyone can get encephalitis, and various other brain born problems from it. It's not just for pregnant women anymore.

right, but look at the areas effected state side.

thats why i said, if it was illegals bringing it over, i'd feel bad for Texas and Cali.

as far as the disease itself goes, if they need more funding, then we need to give it to them. the fact that it affects unborn babies the most is what's most alarming, especially since the women themselves aren't that much affected by it. it's a crazy thing.

You haven't been keeping up with the news, then. The obama administration has been relocating illegals to every one of the 50 states. Not just Texas and California.

See what happens when our kids stop playing in sandboxes.