CDC Adds Three More Caribbean Islands to Zika Virus Travel Alert

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The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently added more Caribbean countries to its growing list of the Zika virus travel alert.

The CDC added the Cayman Islands, Antigua and Barbuda and Turks and Caicos to its interim travel guidance related to the Zika virus in the Caribbean.

Those previously included the Caribbean islands and territories of Barbados; Bonaire; Aruba; Curacao; French Guiana; Cuba; Dominica; Belize; U.S. Virgin Islands; Martinique; Saba; St. Vincent and the Grenadines; Guadeloupe; Puerto Rico; St. Maarten/St. MartinTrinidad and Tobago; Guyana; Haiti; Dominican Republic; Anguilla; St. Lucia; Grenada; St. Eustatius; Suriname; St. Barthelemy and Jamaica.

According to the CDC, many people infected with Zika virus do not get sick. Among those who do develop symptoms, sickness is usually mild, with symptoms that last for several days to a week. Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), a rare disorder that can cause muscle weakness and paralysis for a few weeks to several months, is very likely triggered by Zika in a small proportion of infections, much as it is after a variety of other infections. Most people fully recover from GBS, but some have permanent damage.

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