By Adam Studzinski
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Public Health is warning residents about the potential of contracting the Zika virus while traveling abroad.
The warning comes after two pregnant women tested positive for the virus after traveling to Honduras and Haiti. IDPH Director Nirav Shah said this disease, which is transmitted by mosquitoes, is “generally mild.”
“It has some symptoms that can also be confused with other diseases, like fever, rash, joint pain, eye pain,” said Shah. “But about only one in five individuals who actually contract the virus from a mosquito bite end up becoming sick.”
Shah added there is virtually no risk of getting the virus while in Illinois because it cannot be transferred from human to human. However, Shah explained there is a particular risk for pregnant women who get the virus as there is a between the virus and birth defects.
“Although there’s more research that needs to be done to sure up that link,” he said.
Areas which have ongoing Zika virus transmission include Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Adam Studzinski can be reached at adam.studzinski@cumulus.com.
