![This 2006 photo provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a female Aedes aegypti mosquito in the process of acquiring a blood meal from a human host. On Friday, Jan. 15, 2016, U.S. health officials are telling pregnant women to avoid travel to Latin America and Caribbean countries with outbreaks of a tropical illness linked to birth defects. The Zika virus is spread through mosquito bites from Aedes aegypti and causes only a mild illness in most people. But there’s been mounting evidence linking the virus to a surge of a rare birth defect in Brazil.]({"default":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BBohq5R.img?h=199&w=300&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=1056&y=639"})
At least, three people in New York — including one from Queens — have tested positive for a mosquito-borne virus linked to severe birth defects in newborns, officials said.
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.
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 two others are recovering without complications, according to a statement the State Health Department issued on Friday
One person has fully recovered and 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.
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