BOGOTA: More than 3,100 pregnant Colombian women
are infected with the mosquito-borne Zika virus, President Juan Manuel Santos
said on Saturday, as the disease continues its rapid spread across the
Americas.
The virus has been
linked to the devastating birth defect microcephaly, which prevents fetus’
brains from developing properly. There is no vaccine or treatment.
There are so far no recorded cases of
Zika-linked microcephaly in Colombia, Santos said.
There are 25,645
people infected with the disease in Colombia, Santos said during a TV broadcast
with health officials. Among them are 3,177 pregnant women.
“The projection is
that we could end up having 600,000 cases,” Santos said, adding there could be
up to 1,000 cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare but serious condition that
can cause paralysis and which some governments have linked to Zika infection.
Santos said the
government was now uncertain about a previous projection for up to 500 cases of
Zika-linked microcephaly, based on data from other countries battling the
disease. Authorities will continue to investigate, he said.
The government
will be working across the country to fight mosquitoes – fumigating and helping
families rid their homes of stagnant water, the president said.
Colombian health
minister Alejandro Gaviria has said he believes three deaths are connected with
Zika.
The province of
Norte de Santander had nearly 5,000 cases of the virus, more than any other in
the country, an epidemiological bulletin from the national health institute
published on Saturday showed.
Norte de
Santander, along the eastern border with Venezuela, also had the highest number
of pregnant women with Zika – nearly 31 percent of total cases.
The country’s
Caribbean region, which includes popular tourist destinations Cartagena and
Santa Marta, had more than 11,000 cases of the virus, the bulletin showed.
The government has
said pregnant women with Zika are eligible to access much-restricted abortion
services.
Many women struggle
to find abortion providers even when they meet strict legal requirements and
illegal abortions are widespread. On Friday, local media reported the first
abortion because of Zika infection.
The government has
urged women to delay pregnancy for six to eight months.
Unreported cases
and patients with no symptoms of infection could mean that there are between
80,000 and 100,000 current Zika infections in Colombia, the government has
said.
An estimated 80 percent of those infected with Zika show no symptoms,
and those that do have a mild illness, with a fever, rash and red eyes.
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