--- title: Zika Virus: CDC May Warn Pregnant Women About Travel description: The CDC may warn pregnant women about traveling to countries with Zika virus canonical: https://time.com/4180718/zika-virus-pregnant-women-travel-warning-cdc/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-14T16:30:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T14:08:15.191Z article:section: Health og:title: U.S. May Warn Pregnant Women About Traveling to Countries With Zika Virus og:description: The mosquitoes-borne virus has been linked to birth defects og:url: https://time.com/4180718/zika-virus-pregnant-women-travel-warning-cdc/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8a9dee9f29564ce/6988792b0a4a22267f9c7e8d/mos.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 139289970 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: U.S. May Warn Pregnant Women About Traveling to Countries With Zika Virus twitter:description: The mosquitoes-borne virus has been linked to birth defects twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8a9dee9f29564ce/6988792b0a4a22267f9c7e8d/mos.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # U.S. May Warn Pregnant Women About Traveling to Countries With Zika Virus by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jan 14, 2016 4:30 PM UTC  Aedes aegypti Aedes aegyptiGetty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jan 14, 2016 4:30 PM UTC American health officials are [considering](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/14/health/zika-virus-cdc-travel-warning-brazil-caribbean.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share) whether to warn pregnant women in the U.S. about traveling to countries [currently dealing with the Zika virus](http://time.com/4176167/zika-virus-what-to-know/)—a mosquitoes-borne [virus](http://time.com/4177122/mosquitoes-diseases-zika-virus/) that’s been linked to birth defects in some countries, such as Brazil. The New York _Times_ reports that experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are debating the warning, which would be the first time the agency advises pregnant women to avoid a certain region, and could have a big impact on tourism. “We can’t make these decisions in a vacuum,” CDC spokesman Thomas Skinner [told the _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/14/health/zika-virus-cdc-travel-warning-brazil-caribbean.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share). “We’re consulting with other experts outside.” Countries in Latin American and Caribbean regions have experienced outbreaks of the Zika virus, and in January, a case was confirmed in Houston. The Times reports that the CDC may make its final announcement on the matter on Thursday or Friday. \[[_NYT_](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/14/health/zika-virus-cdc-travel-warning-brazil-caribbean.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share)\] Zika Virus: CDC May Warn Pregnant Women About Travel ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4180718/zika-virus-pregnant-women-travel-warning-cdc/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4180718/zika-virus-pregnant-women-travel-warning-cdc/"},"headline":"U.S. May Warn Pregnant Women About Traveling to Countries With Zika Virus","datePublished":"2016-01-14T16:30:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:08:15.191Z","description":"The mosquitoes-borne virus has been linked to birth defects","url":"https://time.com/4180718/zika-virus-pregnant-women-travel-warning-cdc/","keywords":["Infectious Disease","CDC","Mosquitoes","Zika virus"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8a9dee9f29564ce/6988792b0a4a22267f9c7e8d/mos.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8a9dee9f29564ce/6988792b0a4a22267f9c7e8d/mos.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"139289970","caption":"139289970","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-disease/","name":"Infectious Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4180718/zika-virus-pregnant-women-travel-warning-cdc/","name":"U.S. May Warn Pregnant Women About Traveling to Countries With Zika Virus"}}]}] ```