A glance at Zika cases and complications in Latin America

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A glance at the number of Zika cases and complications by country in Latin America and the Caribbean:

BRAZIL: The mosquito-spread Zika virus appeared in Brazil last year and officials say hundreds of thousands of people apparently have been infected. Authorities soon saw what appears to be a sharp jump in cases of microcephaly – children born with unusually small heads – and investigators are scrambling to determine if the two are linked. Officials said Wednesday they’ve found 4,180 suspected cases of microcephaly since late October, though only 270 of those so far have been confirmed.

COLOMBIA: Over 16,419 confirmed or suspected cases of Zika, including 1090 pregnant women. Of the total, only 798 have been confirmed by blood tests. President Juan Manuel Santos said the virus could hit as many as 600,000 people this year. Health authorities say one case of microcephaly and 12 cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome are suspected to be linked to Zika.

VENEZUELA: Officials decline to issue guidelines about Zika or release epidemiological data, but have confirmed the virus is in Venezuela. Non-governmental organizations say that the country saw more than 400,000 unusual cases of acute fever in the second half of 2015 that may have been Zika. The country has not seen microcephaly or Guillan-Barre with suspected links to Zika.

CARIBBEAN NATIONS: The Caribbean island nations have had a couple of hundred suspected cases of Zika, the majority of them in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. There have been at least 19 laboratory-confirmed cases in Puerto Rico and at least 10 in the neighboring Dominican Republic. The majority of those in the U.S. territory are believed to be locally contracted. Haiti has reported at least five confirmed cases and the U.S. Virgin Islands at least one. Regional officials so far have not reported any suspected microcephaly or Guillain-Barre cases linked to Zika.

ECUADOR: 33 reported Zika cases, 17 of them confirmed by laboratory tests. No cases of microcephaly or Guillain-Barre suspected of being linked to Zika.

BOLIVIA: Four confirmed cases of Zika, including three who caught it in Brazil and one locally infected pregnant woman

EL SALVADOR: 2,474 suspected cases of Zika, 122 of which were pregnant women.

HONDURAS: 610 cases, including two people with Guillain-Barre syndrome possibly linked to Zika.

GUATEMALA: 68 confirmed cases of Zika.

MEXICO: 18 confirmed cases of locally acquired Zika; no cases of microcephaly or Guillain-Barre suspected of being linked to Zika.

PANAMA: 42 cases of Zika, including one pregnant woman. No cases of microcephaly or Guillain-Barre suspected of being linked to Zika.

COSTA RICA: One case, acquired in Colombia.

NICARAGUA: Two cases.

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