Several doctors have contacted the
Los Angeles County Public Health Department asking for blood tests for
patients exhibiting symptoms of the Zika virus, the department said
Friday.
A pregnant woman was among those patients.
Bay Area Woman Tested for Zika Virus
The
testing will be performed by the federal Centers for Disease Control
(CDC) in Atlanta, which so far has confirmed 12 cases nationwide.
California at this point is not among the handful of states that have
the materials to perform the test to identify the virus, which was
unseen in the United States until recently.
Outbreaks of the
mosquito-borned virus have been reported in Africa, Southeast Asia, the
Pacific Islands and Central and South America.
Health
officials are investigating a link between infections and subsequent
birth defects, and the CDC Friday added more nations and territories to
its warning for travel that already includes much of the Caribbean and
Latin America, including Mexico. The warning applies to two U.S.
territories, Puerto Rico and Samoa.
The travel warning also extends to Brazil, which will host the Olympic Games this summer in Rio de Janeiro.
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