Zika Virus in the Western Hemisphere: CRS Products

Summary

In late 2015, health officials in Brazil saw a spike in the number of infants born with microcephaly, a birth defect that may be associated with significant, permanent brain damage. The increase in microcephaly was later linked to prenatal infection with the Zika virus (ZIKV), which appears to have emerged in Brazil early in 2015. ZIKV has spread from South America into Central America and the Caribbean. Puerto Rico has been hard hit, with more than 6,500 locally transmitted (i.e., mosquito-borne) infections reported to date. In late July 2016, local transmission of ZIKV was reported for the first time on the U.S. mainland, in Miami, Florida, and case counts surged in Puerto Rico. On August 12, 2016, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) declared the situation in Puerto Rico to be a public health emergency, allowing more flexibility to hire workers for education, outreach, and mosquito control.