Puerto Rico Declared Zika Emergency Zone

The U.S. government is allocating emergency funding for Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, to fight the Zika virus.  

In the last week, nearly 2,000 new cases were reported there. However, health authorities suspect the number of people infected with the virus is much higher than reported. That's because 80 percent of the people who contract Zika don't have any symptoms and recover without incident.

Since December, nearly 11,000 Puerto Ricans are reported to have been sickened by Zika. The U.S. surgeon general made an ominous prediction: By the end of this year, the virus will have infected one-fourth of Puerto Rico's 3.5 million residents.

The mosquito-borne virus is most dangerous to unborn children. Mothers who contract the Zika virus during pregnancy can deliver babies with microcephaly, a condition whereby the infants have abnormally small heads and brain deformation.

Despite the high numbers of Puerto Ricans infected with the Zika virus, there has been only one report of microcephaly. The baby did not survive.

Health officials report more than a thousand pregnant women have been infected with Zika, and 100 of those women have given birth to healthy babies.

In an effort to try to control the mosquito population, Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla authorized the use of an organic larvicide, known as Bti, after rejecting a proposal by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for aerial spraying of the insecticide Naled.