Doctors urged to check pregnant women for Zika at each visit
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - In this Feb. 5, 2016 file photo, Daniele da Silva, who is seven months pregnant, poses for a photo as she sits inside her home in a slum of Recife, Brazil. Da Silva said she had Chikungunya a couple of months ago and her ultrasound scan and other exams of her baby are normal. In Zika-struck Brazil, a debate over whether to loosen the countrys strict abortion laws has sparked a backlash from the mothers of children with birth defects. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File)
U.S. health officials are strongly urging doctors to ask all pregnant women about a possible Zika infection at every checkup.
So far, there have been no confirmed cases of a Zika infection from a mosquito bite in the United States, although officials expect mosquitoes will start spreading it in Southern states.
All U.S. illnesses have been connected to travel to areas with Zika outbreaks.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The advice came Monday as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fine-tuned its guidance. It urged doctors to at least ask pregnant women if they or their sex partner were in an outbreak area, and suggested expanded use of a sophisticated blood test.
The Zika virus is mainly spread by mosquito bites, but also through sex. Infection during pregnancy can result in birth defects.