Cuba's status as one of the nations without a domestic record of Zika virus has ended. This is after Cuban officials reported on Tuesday night the first case of the virus transmission in the country.
A 21-year-old woman from Havana, who did not travel outside Cuba, was diagnosed with the virus after suffering fatigue, headache and other symptoms. She stayed in the hospital after her blood test result showed positive on Zika virus, NBC News reported.
The cases of the disease that was reported in Cuba were from people who had traveled to places where Zika outbreaks are reported, particularly in Venezuela. It appeared that the patients have contracted the virus there.
Cuba has deployed more than 9,000 soldiers, police and university students to eliminate mosquitoes through fumigation and getting rid of stagnant water where the mosquitoes breed. President Raul Castro has called for more trash collection and fumigation to fight Zika.
However, Central Havana, where the first Zika patient lives, and other neighborhoods are still filled with piles of uncollected trash, abandoned building and pools of stagnant water.
Zika outbreak was first declared as an international health emergency on Feb. 1 by the World Health Organization, where it stated that Zika infection is linked to pregnancy and microcephaly, a birth defect that causes brain to stop developing and undersized heads of the babies, according to Reuters.
It remains unknown whether Zika virus actually causes the birth defect. However, Brazil stated that it has confirmed more than 740 cases of microcephaly and considered most of them are caused by Zika infection in the mothers. Meanwhile, the country is investigating an additional of more than 4,200 suspected microcephaly cases.
There are more cases of sexual transmission in France and the United States and there is a case in Brazil that is believed to be transmitted through blood transfusion. These cases raise questions about other ways that Zika may spread.
