Kentucky's Department of Public Health is responding to concerns about the Zika virus with holiday travel suggestions. Officials are especially concerned about pregnant women. According to infectious disease specialist, Dr. ArdisHoven, says pregnant women, those who might be pregnant and their sex partners should avoid areas where the virus remains active.
Hoven says Zika-carrying mosquitoes are still a serious threat in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico, Mexico, South America, and in southern regions of Florida and Texas. “They’re all listed as countries where there are travel notices for active zika transmission, so there’s not one more than any other. There’s no way to predict which might be a greater risk,” Hoven said.
While head abnormalities among newborns have been the most often cited effect of Zika, Hoven says even healthy babies are monitored, “What we’re learning as this epidemic, if you want to call it that, continues, the implications for the infact, both in-utero, and after birth, we’re learning many more things about what can occur with these babies."
Dr. Hoven says there have been 33 cases of Zika in Kentucky. 17 women and 16 men contracted the disease while visiting other countries. Hoven says two of the women have had babies who display no serious health problems.?
