3 people in New York test positive for Zika virus

Including one from Queens   have tested positive for a mosquito-borne virus linked to severe birth defects in newborns, officials said.

Growing evidence suggests that the Zika virus might be linked to neurological syndromes and congenital anomalies in newborn children. The spread of the disease had led some Latin American governments, including Colombia and El Salvador, to advise that women not get pregnant until 2018. Let’s take a look at 10 facts about the disease.

All three came down with the Zika virus after traveling to places outside the U.S. where the ailment has affected thousands. The two other patients are from Nassau and Orange Counties, state health officials said.

A female Aedes aegypti mosquito in the process of acquiring a blood meal from a human

 Zika has been linked to microcephaly, a birth defect that causes newborns to have unusually small heads and abnormal brain development. The virus has spread rapidly, mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean.

One person has fully recovered, and the two others are recovering without complications, according to a statement the State Health Department issued on Friday.


“There is virtually no risk of acquiring Zika virus in New York State at this time,” Department of Health Commissioner Howard Zucker said. "The virus cannot be spread by casual contact with an infected person and mosquitoes are not active in cold winter months."

But Zucker warned pregnant women to check health advisories for the affected countries and take preventative measures such as wearing long-sleeved shirts and using mosquito repellent.

Meanwhile, the number of countries included in a federal travel alert about the illness jumped to 22 after eight tropical destinations were added to the list Friday.

The Centers for Disease Control is urging pregnant women to consider postponing trips to the destinations  most of which are in Latin America and the Caribbean.

El Salvador officials took the unprecedented step Friday of urging women to avoid getting pregnant until 2018.

The countries added to the alert include: Barbados, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin and Guyana; Cape Verde, off the coast of western Africa; and Samoa in the South Pacific. Last week’s alert named: Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Suriname and Venezuela.