Babymooners Ditch Exotic Travel as Zika Virus Threat Spreads
by Patricia Laya
Bloomberg.com
January 28, 2016
Katie Aslesen should be dipping her toes in the crystal clear waters of Cozumel island.
Instead, the four-months pregnant Minnesota native and her husband traded their Caribbean Sea babymoon — a vacation for parents-to-be — for Cocoa Beach, Florida. They made the last-minute switch to escape possible exposure to the mosquito-borne Zika virus spreading across the Americas. Zika may cause babies to be born with microcephaly, a birth defect that causes brain damage and abnormally small heads.
Aslesen, 26, first heard of it “from news on Facebook, and then it was everywhere the next day: news stations, talk shows, CDC website. Not to mention the handful of family members calling, texting or Facebooking us advising us not to travel,” the first-time expectant mother said. Cocoa Beach “may not be as warm as Cozumel, Mexico, but at least our child is safe.”
Scientists currently can’t calculate the risk that contracting Zika during pregnancy will have negative consequences for the unborn child, but soon-to-be parents and affected countries aren’t taking any chances. El Salvador officials suggested women delay conception until 2018 because of the epidemic. Colombia, Ecuador and Jamaica called for shorter delays; the virus hasn’t even been confirmed in Jamaica yet.
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