3 New Cases of Zika Virus Reported This Week in Virginia

Three new cases of the Zika virus have been reported this week in Virginia, the Virginia Department of Health reported Thursday.

Of the three new cases, two of those are in the Northern Region health district of Northern Virginia, according to the health department. In all, 18 cases of the Zika virus have now been reported in the Commonwealth. Of those 18, nine of them have been reported in the Northern Region health district.

Most people experience no symptoms or only mild symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If symptoms occur they might include: fever, rash, joint pain, or conjunctivitis (red eyes).

If you are pregnant and traveled to a Zika-affected area during pregnancy, talk to your healthcare provider about getting tested for Zika, the CDC advises.

The CDC reports Thursday there are 591 cases of the Zika virus reported in the United States; of those, 168 are pregnant women.

The U.S. cases were contracted by people bit by mosquitoes with the Zika virus outside the continental U.S. (See other ways it can be transmitted here.) Mosquitoes become infected when they feed on a person already infected with the virus, according to the CDC. Infected mosquitoes can then spread the virus to other people through bites.

CDC has issued a travel alert (Level 2-Practice Enhanced Precautions) for people traveling to regions and certain countries where Zika virus transmission is ongoing.

Also this week, a new study shows that a baby born to a pregnant women who contracts the Zika virus during the first trimester has a 13 percent chance of being born with with a severe and rare brain defect, according to research published Wednesday by the New England Journal of Medicine and reported by The Washington Post.

That condition, known as microcephaly, is characterized at birth by an abnormally small head and often incomplete brain development.

PHOTO of mosquito courtesy of CDC