Public health officials have admitted the Zika virus is scarier than first thought and its impact on the US could be greater than predicted. In a briefing at White House yesterday, Dr Anne Schuchat of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a wider range of birth defects has been linked to the virus.
And the mosquitoes that carry the virus could travel to more US states than previously thought. The current Zika outbreak began almost a year ago in Brazil. It has been linked to thousands of birth defects in the Americas. Earlier this year, US President Obama asked the US Congress for 1.8 billion dollars in emergency funding to combat the virus.
