Zika invades Caribbean

The Caribbean island-nation of St. Lucia confirmed two autochthonous (native, vector-borne transmission) cases of zika virus on April 7, the first cases discovered that were contracted on the island. Zika is now endemic in 34 countries and territories in the Americas and the Caribbean. 

In the greater area, as of press time, only Canada, the US, the Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, Anguilla, St. Kitts & Nevis, Montserrat, Antigua & Barbuda, Grenada, Belize, Peru, Chile and Argentina had not confirmed any autochthonous cases of zika.

Zika virus is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito and has also been found to be sexually transmitted. Symptoms of the zika virus include soreness, headaches and fever, though the majority of infected people do not experience any symptoms at all. On April 13, doctors in the US confirmed that zika virus did cause microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome (an autoimmune, paralyzing condition) in some fetuses. Women who are pregnant or planning on becoming pregnant are advised to avoid areas with zika.