Just last week, the first case of the Zika virus was discovered in the United States when a woman in Los Angeles county who had traveled to El Salvador and back was found to have been infected.
Now, the number of cases have shot up to 36, including four pregnant women, ABC News reports. The Zika virus is associated with causing microcephaly, a birth defect where the infant is born with an abnormally small brain, and in most cases will suffer from some degree of mental retardation.
The virus is spread by the Aedes mosquitos, but don’t panic yet. Every person who has the Zika virus in the U.S. so far had contracted it outside the country.
