More than 150 pregnant women in the United States are infected with Zika virus. None are from Arizona, but some women are asking to be screened.
The Centers for Disease Control announced Friday that it has changed how it reports cases of Zika among pregnant women. Now, officials include all pregnant women who tested positive, regardless if they exhibited symptoms of the virus. The hope is to cast a wider net.
"A lot of pregnant women are working with their OBs especially if they have a history of travel to determine whether or not they’ve been infected," said Dr. Cara Christ with the Arizona Department of Health.
Christ said they’ve run about 100 tests so far, but that figure is not limited to just pregnant women. To date, three people in Arizona have been infected with Zika. Christ said they contracted the virus while out of the country.
Christ said even once you’ve left an outbreak zone like the Caribbean or parts of Central and South America, it’s important to avoid being bitten when you get home.
"Our main goal is to prevent it from getting into our mosquito population. We do not have local transmission of Zika in Arizona at this time," said Christ.
However, we do have the mosquito that is capable of carrying Zika, she said. Called the Aedes aegypti mosquito, it has already infected more than 500 people in the United States.
