First Case Of Dangerous Zika Virus Reported In United States

A mosquito-borne illness that has affected up to 1.3 million people and thousands of unborn children in Brazil has now appeared in the United States, according to reports.

The Zika virus is a mosquito-borne illness that has affected more than a million people in Brazil and has now spread to the U.S.
Photo Credit: *File photo*

James O'Rourke

01/21/2016 11:30 a.m.

The first U.S. infant born with Zika virus was born in Hawaii recently, health officials told cbsnews.com.

The illness can cause microcephaly, a condition associated with Zika virus that can cause mental retardation in unborn children. As many as 3,530 children have been born in Brazil with the illness since October, according to cbsnews.com.

Though the illness has so far spread to 13 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, officials in Hawaii said the mother and child are non-infectious and that people of the state are not at any great risk, according to cbsnews.com.

Click here to read the cbsnews.com report.

Click here to follow Daily Voice Armonk and receive free news updates.