7 News Belize

2nd Zika Case Confirmed In Belize; This Time It’s A Pregnant Woman
posted (May 25, 2016)

Belize has another confirmed case of Zika in country, and this time, it's a pregnant woman who is infected. That's not the type of news that the Ministry of Health wants at this time, since the woman's baby is at risk of being born with the medical condition as micro-cephaly, a birth defect where newborns have abnormally small heads and under-developed brains.

The Ministry of Health confirmed before news time that it has received the confirmation of the pregnant woman by the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA).

Their statement says, quote, "The case is being closely monitored by the Ministry of Health staff as the patient is a pregnant woman. This patient is from the Cayo District.  The case was picked up through the heightened and strengthened vector borne disease and vaccine preventable disease surveillance, which now includes the monitoring of Zika, currently underway across the country. 

The Ministry this morning collected a sample from another pregnant woman with symptoms of the virus. The sample will be sent to CARPHA for further testing. 

Vector control and public health officers, along with staff from the Epidemiology Unit and Maternal and Child Health Departments, are actively engaged with the community and are further scaling up efforts in the monitoring of Zika." End Quote.

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