Zika Fear Brings Pregnant Woman to Illinois from Florida

Worry about the potential for Zika infection prompted a pregnant woman to flee her Florida home for the comfort and safety of her mother's house in Orland Park recently. But the number of reported Zika cases in Illinois is growing, and now ranks No. 1 among Midwest states for Zika afflictions.

While far behind New York, Florida, California and Texas, where most of the cases have been reported, the number in Illinois has grown to 51 reports of the disease, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health, up from 46 cases reported three weeks ago.

All of the Illinois cases are travel-related, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, meaning viral infection was acquired in a Zika hot zone. The CDC is reporting 45 confirmed cases in Illinois, but a CDC official told Patch its figures may be slightly behind the state's own reported count and the IDPH figure is the most up-to-date.

The news comes as The New York Times has reported the Zika virus, carried by mosquitoes, can attack and destroy parts of babies' brains. At least three of the Illinois cases involved pregnant women.

The fear is particularly prevalent in mosquito-rich Florida, where 405 cases have been reported to the CDC, 36 of which are not travel related.

Zika worries prompted Christina Frigo, who's 32 weeks pregnant, to abandon Florida with her husband, Scott, and move in with her mom in Orland Park.

“I was just terrified,” the expectant mom told CBS Chicago when she learned Zika cases were being reported in her Miami Beach neighborhood. "I feel for these people who can't get out."

She has tested negative for the virus.

For most people, a Zika viral affliction is relatively mild. The most common symptoms of Zika disease are fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis (red eyes). The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting from several days to a week.

But for pregnant women, the infection can be devastating. Zika can cause microcephaly in babies' brains, and new brain scans published in the Journal of Radiology show damage beyond that, too.

State-by-State Zika Reports

Here is the list of states in order of confirmed cases, according to the CDC:

1. New York 579
2. Florida 405
3. California 137
4. Texas 108
5. Pennsylvania 69
6. New Jersey 66
7. Maryland 64
8. Virginia 62
9. Massachusetts 59
10. Connecticut 49
11. Georgia 48
12. Illinois 45
13. North Carolina 35
14. Ohio 33
15. Tennessee 33
16. Minnesota 31
17. South Carolina 31
18. Michigan 25
19. Rhode Island 25
20. Indiana 24
21. Louisiana 23
22. Colorado 21
23. Wisconsin 20
24. Oklahoma 19
25. Washington 19
26. Missouri 18
27. Arizona 17
28. Mississippi 17
29. Oregon 14
30. Iowa 13
31. Nevada 13
32. Alabama 11
33. Delaware 10
34. Hawaii 10
35. Kentucky 10
36. West Virginia 10
37. Arkansas 9
38. Kansas 9
39. Maine 9
40. New Hampshire 8
41. Nebraska 6
42. Utah 6
43. Vermont 6
44. Montana 4
45. New Mexico 3
46. Idaho 1
47. North Dakota 1

Contributing: Tom Davis, Patch

Patch file photo