Skip to content
Health
Link copied to clipboard

Miscarriages reported in 2 U.S. women with Zika virus, CDC says

Two U.S. women who contracted the Zika virus while traveling out of the country miscarried after returning home, and the virus was found in their placentas, a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

Two U.S. women who contracted the Zika virus while traveling out of the country miscarried after returning home, and the virus was found in their placentas, a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

Federal health officials have not previously reported miscarriages in American travelers infected with the mosquito-borne virus while abroad. But there have been miscarriages reported in Brazil, the epicenter of a Zika epidemic that now spans nearly three dozen countries.

The STAT website first reported Wednesday that at least three U.S. women had suffered miscarriages, based on information from the CDC's chief pathologist. The pathologist told STAT the women miscarried early in their pregnancies but provided no additional details.

CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said he was aware of only two miscarriages.

Last month, officials said a baby born in a Hawaii hospital was the first in the country with a birth defect linked to Zika. Hawaiian officials said the baby's mother likely contracted the virus while living in Brazil last year and passed it on while her child was in the womb. Babies born with this rare condition, known as microcephaly, have abnormally small heads and brain abnormalities.

In testimony before Congress Wednesday, CDC Director Tom Frieden reiterated that the agency is learning more about Zika every day, including how it can be transmitted from mother to fetus. Increasing evidence in Brazil also is linking Zika to microcephaly and other suspected neurological complications.

More than four dozen Zika cases have been confirmed in 14 states and the District of Columbia - six involving pregnant women - with at least another 21 cases in U.S. territories, the CDC said last Friday. Frieden also said that one U.S. case of Guillain-Barre syndrome may be linked to Zika.

It was unclear whether the two miscarriages were counted among the six cases involving pregnant women.

Locally, Lehigh University says a student has recovered after becoming infected with the Zika virus.

The school said in a message to students and staff that the student had traveled abroad over winter break.

"We are grateful to be able to report that the student has recovered and is feeling well," the message said, adding that officials don't believe anyone else on campus is at risk.

Pennsylvania Department of Health officials said earlier this week that two female Pennsylvania residents who had recently traveled to other countries became infected with mild cases of the virus.

Sen. Bob Casey said the local cases underscore the need for Congress to move quickly to approve President Obama's request for $1.8 billion in emergency funding to fight the virus domestically and abroad.

"Congress needs to be proactive, not reactive, so that our communities are prepared to respond to the threat," the Pennsylvania Democrat said on a conference call with reporters.

The bulk of the president's emergency-funding request would go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to support mosquito control, state readiness, improving laboratory capacity, and surveillance efforts.

It wasn't clear Thursday whether the Lehigh student's illness was a third case in Pennsylvania or one of the two initially reported.

New Jersey and Delaware have each had at least one confirmed Zika case.

Staff writer Emily Babay contributed to this article.