BELIZE CITY: Belize’s government said Wednesday it has detected the first case of Zika in a pregnant woman, bringing to two the number of people confirmed infected with the virus in the Central American country.
The health ministry was also investigating another suspected case involving a pregnant woman, with tests underway, a statement said.
The government last week announced Belize’s first Zika patient, living in the capital Belize City.
The mosquito-borne Zika virus can cause the birth defect microcephaly, which can cause babies to be born with unusually small heads and deformed brains.
Fifty-one warm-weather countries and territories around the world have reported Zika transmission to some degree, according to a regularly updated online list maintained by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
Most of them are in Latin America, the Caribbean and the South Pacific. -- AFP