Three NYC residents, including one pregnant woman, recently contracted the mosquito-borne Zika virus while traveling outside the United States. And though Zika doesn't pose an immediate threat locally, doctors and health officials are warning pregnant women to avoid traveling to countries affected by the current outbreak.
Though no official link has been found, doctors believe Zika may cause microcephaly, a birth defect that leaves infants with brain damage and abnormally small heads. Brazil, which has been hit hard by Zika, has reported 4,180 cases of microcephaly since October. "Our main message is to warn pregnant women, and women trying to become pregnant, to avoid or delay traveling to any of the countries affected,” city Health Department spokesman Christopher Miller told the Post.
A pregnant woman from Long Island told the Post that she and her husband canceled their trip to the Caribbean in the wake of the outbreak. “It’s not about me or my husband. It’s about the health of our unborn child,” she said. “And we didn’t want to take that risk." Airlines like JetBlue, British Airways and Lufthansa have recently been permitting pregnant women to change or cancel their tickets.
Travel issues aside, doctors are particularly concerned about the effect Zika will have on countries where abortion is illegal, and fear women will put their health at risk via back alley procedures. "When women are desperate … they will seek out their own solutions,” Carmen Barroso, Western Hemisphere director for the International Planned Parenthood Federation, told the Daily News.
