Canada became the latest country to have residents infected with the fast-moving Zika virus, about a week after the World Health Organization said it would be safe.
The Canadian public health agency said three people who traveled to countries hit hard by the virus tested positive for Zika. A widespread outbreak doesn’t appear likely as the mosquitoes that spread Zika don’t live in Canada.
More than 20 countries in North and South America have reported Zika cases. In the U.S., cases have popped up in 10 states, but all of them stem from people who recently traveled to central and South American countries where the virus is spreading rapidly.
Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that can cause fever, joint pain, red eyes and rashes and only one in four people infected are believed to develop the symptoms, the Canadian agency said.
But public health officials are concerned about a potential link to the birth defect microcephaly, which causes babies to be born with very small heads and can lead to brain damage.
There may also be a link to the paralysis condition called Guillain-Barre syndrome, but it hasn’t been confirmed.
The infections come about a week after the World Health Organization said the virus isn’t likely to spread to Canada and Chile since the mosquito that spreads Zika isn’t found in those countries. All of the other countries in North and South America were expected to get the virus.
The WHO recently said that it expects up to 4 million cases of the virus in this outbreak.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have issued a travel advisory to 20 countries and territories where the virus is spreading, including Mexico and Brazil — the epicenter of the outbreak as well as the host of the Summer Olympics.
CDC officials said on Thursday they expect limited outbreaks of Zika in the U.S. but not a major epidemic.
