Though common in Africa and Asia, the disease only began spreading in the western hemisphere last May, when an outbreak began in Brazil. "But there we no reports of any serious illness associated with it".
In an attempt to reduce the spread of Zika, along with other unsafe viruses such as Dengue Fever, scientists were tasked with developing genetically modified and sterile mosquitoes that they hope will curb insect populations in infested areas.
A spate of babies born with unusually small heads in Brazil has been linked to the Zika virus.
A woman infected by a mosquito bite in the first few weeks of pregnancy may not even know she is pregnant yet.
The ministry's emergency response official, Wanderson Oliveira, said at a news conference in Brasilia on Wednesday that the reported cases are being investigated to determine whether they are really cases of microcephaly.
"We expect an expansion similar to what we had with the chikungunya virus previous year, to finish with between 600,000 to 700,000 cases", Gaviria said. However, health officials are advising the public not to worry, as all of the USA cases so far were contracted overseas from mosquitos in countries affected by outbreaks.
New cases of the Zika virus infection are now starting to be reported from different parts of the US mainland. As of writing this, countries included in the warning are Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela, as well as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
About one in five people infected with the Zika virus become ill.
-Zika is primarily transmitted through the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes and can also be transmitted from a pregnant mother to her baby.
The CDC has issued an alert asking women at any stage of pregnancy to postpone travel to 14 destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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.
A traveller returning from El Salvador in November fell ill with fever, rash and joint pain.
The CDC urged doctors to ask pregnant women about their travel history.
We revealed zika cases had been confirmed in Europe and the U.S. - but these are the first British cases.
Source: CDC expands tropical virus alert; 22 destinations on list
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