The Zika outbreak has spread to 11 countries in Southeast Asia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed Thursday evening.
The CDC has issued a travel warning urging pregnant women to consider postponing nonessential travel to Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Philippines, Thailand, East Timor and Vietnam.
The alert is less serious than warnings the CDC has issued for other countries. Last month, Singapore reported 400 locally transmitted cases of the mosquito-borne virus, prompting the CDC to urge pregnant women not to travel there.
Unlike South and Central America, where Zika has suddenly popped up in large numbers, the virus has long-been present in portions of Southeast Asia. But over time, nationals have developed an immunity to the disease, making Americans and other tourists more susceptible as the ill mosquito population grows.
The Zika virus cases birth defects, including microcephaly and brain abnormalities, in the children of pregnant women.
