A new total of 5,109 cases of the Zika virus have been reported in the United States and Washington, D.C., from Jan. 1, 2015, through March 8, 2017, up from 5,001 through Feb. 8, according to the latest update from the Arboviral Disease Branch of the federal Centers for Disease Control. The number of cases in U.S. territories (primarily Puerto Rico) rose to 38,099, up from 36,638 last month.
The new update found the number of locally acquired mosquito-borne cases of Zika virus reported in the U.S. at 221, up by only 1 from last month. The total number of travel-associated cases reported stood at 4,813 (up from 4,780). Of these, 45 were determined to be sexually transmitted (up from 41).
In the U.S. territories, (encompassing Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands), the number of locally acquired cases reported since Jan. 1, 2015, reached a total of 37,952, up from 36,498 last month, with 147 travel-associated cases (up from 140). Puerto Rico alone accounted for 36,967 instances, up from 35,421 last month (the CDC cautioned this represents retroactively reported cases as well).
The CDC noted that sexually transmitted cases are not reported for U.S. territories "because with local transmission of Zika virus, it is not possible to determine whether infection occurred due to mosquito-borne or sexual transmission."
State by state, updated statistics encompassing 2015-2017 show Florida had 215 cases of locally transmitted Zika (up by just 1 over last month), representing the great majority of such cases in the U.S., while Texas, the only other state reporting locally transmitted infections, remained unchanged with 6 such cases. In terms of travel-associated cases, Florida overtook New York as having the most in the U.S. with 1,095 (up from 855), followed by New York with 1,007 (adjusted down by 1 case since last month), California with 431 (up from 414) and Texas with 317 (up from 298).
A related CDC report offered updated statistics on pregnant women showing laboratory evidence of possible Zika virus infection in the United States (including the District of Columbia), with the count at 1,534 as of Feb. 21 (up from 1,394 the month previously). For U.S. territories, including data from Puerto Rico, the number stood at 3,225 (up from 3,071).
In terms of outcomes, the CDC reported that out of a reported 1,143 completed pregnancies by women with laboratory evidence of possible Zika infection in the United States as of Feb. 21, 2017 (up from 999 month-over-month), the numbers stood at 47 live-born infants with birth defects associated with the virus (up by nine), and five pregnancy losses with birth defects attributed to Zika, with that number unchanged over the past two months.