A glance at Zika cases and complications in Latin America

World Today

An Aedes aegypti mosquito is photographed through a microscope at the Fiocruz institute in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016. The mosquito is a vector for the proliferation of the Zika virus currently spreading throughout Latin America. New figures from Brazil’s Health Ministry show that the Zika virus outbreak has not caused as many confirmed cases of a rare brain defect as first feared. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Here is a look at the number of Zika cases, along with complications listed by country in Latin America and the Caribbean:

BRAZIL: The mosquito-spread Zika virus appeared in Brazil last year and officials say hundreds of thousands of people have been infected.
Authorities soon saw what appears to be a sharp jump in cases of microcephaly, which is when children are born with unusually small heads, and investigators are scrambling to determine if the two are linked. Officials said Wednesday they’ve found 4,180 suspected cases of microcephaly since late October, though only 270 of those so far have been confirmed.

COLOMBIA: Over 16,419 cases of Zika have been confirmed or are suspected, including cases of 1,090 pregnant women.
Of the total, only 798 have been confirmed by blood tests. President Juan Manuel Santos said the virus could hit as many as 600,000 people this year there. Health authorities say one case of microcephaly and 12 cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome are suspected to be linked to Zika.

VENEZUELA: Officials in Venezuela have declined to issue guidelines about Zika or release epidemiological data, but they have confirmed the virus is in Venezuela.
Non-governmental organizations say that the country saw more than 400,000 unusual cases of acute fever in the second half of 2015 that may have been caused by the Zika virus. The country has not seen microcephaly or Guillan-Barre cases that would have been suspected to have links to Zika.

CARIBBEAN NATIONS: Caribbean island nations have had about 200 suspected cases of the Zika virus, with the majority of them in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
There have been at least 19 laboratory-confirmed cases in the U.S. territory and Caribbean island nation of Puerto Rico, and at least 10 in nearby Dominican Republic. The majority of the cases in these two island nations are believed to be locally contracted.
Haiti has reported at least five confirmed cases of the Zika virus, and the U.S. Virgin Islands has reported at least one.
Regional officials, so far, have not reported any suspected microcephaly or Guillain-Barre cases linked to Zika.

This 2006 photo provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a female Aedes aegypti mosquito in the process of acquiring a blood meal from a human host. Scientists believe the species originated in Africa, but came to the Americas on slave ships. It's continued to spread through shipping and airplanes. Now it's found through much of the world. (James Gathany/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention via AP)

This 2006 photo provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a female Aedes aegypti mosquito in the process of acquiring a blood meal from a human host. (James Gathany/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention via AP)

ECUADOR: 33 cases of the Zika virus have been reported in the South American nation of Ecuador, with 17 of them confirmed by laboratory tests.
No cases of microcephaly or Guillain-Barre are suspected of being linked to Zika here.

BOLIVIA: Four confirmed cases of Zika, including three who caught it in Brazil and one locally infected pregnant woman have been discovered in Bolivia.

EL SALVADOR: 2,474 suspected cases of Zika, 122 of which were in pregnant women, have been reported in El Salvador.

HONDURAS: At least 1,000 cases have been reported since mid-December, including two people with Guillain-Barre syndrome possibly linked to the Zika virus have been reported in Honduras.

GUATEMALA: 68 confirmed cases of the mosquito-spread Zika virus have been reported in Guatemala.

Carissa Etienne, left, Regional-Director for the WHO Pan American Health Organization, (WHO/PAHO) sits next to China's Margaret Chan, right, General Director of the World Health Organization, WHO, as she speaks about the Information Session on Zika virus for WHO Member States, during a WHO Executive Board session, at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)

Margaret Chan, General Director of the World Health Organization, WHO, speaks about the Information Session on Zika virus for WHO Member States.(Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)

MEXICO: 18 confirmed cases of locally acquired Zika have been reported, but no cases of microcephaly or Guillain-Barre suspected of being linked to Zika have been reported in Mexico.

PANAMA: 42 cases of Zika have been reported in Panama, including in one pregnant woman. No cases of microcephaly or Guillain-Barre are suspected of being linked to Zika in Panama so far.

COSTA RICA: One case of the Zika virus has been reported so far, which was said to have been acquired in Colombia.

NICARAGUA: Two cases of the Zika virus have been reported so far in Nicaragua.

Story by the Associated Press.


Dr. Peter Hotez on the fast-spreading Zika virus

An urgent warning from the World Health Organization about the mosquito-borne Zika virus says the virus is spreading at an “explosive” rate, with nearly 4 million facing possible infection in the Americas.

CCTV America’s Asieh Namdar spoke to Dr. Peter Hotez, the Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College. Dr. Hotez also specializes in pediatrics and microbiology.


Activists call ‘no pregnancy’ recommendation naive when it comes to Zika virus

CCTV America’s Michelle Begue reports from Bogota in Colombia.

Officials across Latin America are urging women to take the threat of the Zika virus very seriously, especially if they are pregnant. Some countries are even going as far as to recommend women delay conceiving for months if not years. Some activists say that advice is naive and ineffective.


Dr. Daniel Lucey on the rapid spread of the Zika virus

CCTV America’s Mike Walter spoke to Dr. Daniel Lucey, a senior scholar with the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University.