Colombia’s first zika deaths as cases near 23,000

Colombia’s first  zika deaths as cases near 23,000

PANAMA’S southern neighbor has recorded over 22,600  people  infected with the  Zika virus, 2,800 of them pregnant says  the Colombian  National Health Institute.

The news comes in a week where it was announced that the virus usually transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, can also be passed on through urine and saliva. In Dallas, Texas, the first cas if sexually transmitted zika was reported.

Zika cases in Colmbia totaled  22, 612Of that number  2, 824 were  pregnant, according to the latest epidemiological bulletin with data until January 30.

In the first four weeks of 2016, nearly 11,000 people were infected in Colombia, the second most affected country after Brazil.

On Friday, the Health Institute confirmed the first three zika related deaths..

Although in general zika  symptoms are mild.  pregnant women after having babies with microcephaly, an irreversible congenital disease that causes irreparable damage to the child’s cognitive and motor development.

Zika virus is present in 205 municipalities in Colombia, 43% of them in the Midwest and 20.9% in the Caribbean, which celebratesthis week the massive Carnaval de Barranquilla.

The Department of Barranquilla recorded 2,389 cases in the last week of January. Women account for 64.8% of cases.

The UN on Friday in called on countries affected by the  virus (mostly Catholic) to authorize abortion .

Colombian authorities recommended couples postponing pregnancy six to eight months

The zika is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which also transmits dengu