WEST MICHIGAN -- It's a fast-moving virus carried by mosquitoes -- and if a pregnant woman is bitten, it could cause birth defects in their child.
The "Zika virus" has mostly been found in South America -- but it could make its way to North America.
"There's a lot of fear that the virus could spread to the United States," said Dr. Andrew Jameson, an infectious disease specialist at Saint Mary's Mercy Health.
There are currently only 31 confirmed cases in the United States, but the World Health Organization says there could be three to four million cases in the Americas by this time next year.
Experts say the Zika virus has likely infected 1.5 million Brazilians.
Dr. Jameson says the virus has been on the radar since it emerged in Uganda during the 1940's -- showing up in different places around the world since then , but these are the first documented cases in the Western Hemisphere.
"Nobody (in the Americas) has ever seen this virus, so it's causing pretty severe infections," Dr. Jameson says, adding that anyone can be infected, but only one in five of those infected will show symptoms, such as experience headaches, fever, or sore throats. Experts are also linking the Zika virus tomicrocephaly, a neurological disorder that causes children to be born with abnormally small heads.
"These babies have brain damage to differing degrees -- which means inserting this generation into society is going to be very complicated," Angela Rocha of the Oswaldo Cruz University Hospital says.
Experts are encouraging travelers going abroad to change their plans as a precaution. There is no medication to treat the Zika virus and no vaccine to prevent it.
"The risk that people in the United States get infected is zero at this point, but come the spring and summer, the risk could go up if this is still going on," Jameson says. "Right now, the risk to us is very low, in general, if you’re pregnant or could be pregnant I would not recommend traveling to any of the countries that have shown local transmission."
The upcoming Olympics are being held in Brazil -- where most cases of Zika has been detected. Officials said those heading to the Olympics should be fine because the Games will be held during a drier, cooler South American season.
There are 24 infected areas. For more information, click here to follow a link to the Center of Disease Control webpage.
