Zika virus

Years after agreeing to take part in research, families of children with congenital Zika syndrome are feeling abandoned.

The largest study to follow women infected with Zika while they were pregnant finds about 6 percent of children had problems at birth, but 14 percent had complications by their first birthday.

Yaritza Martinez was infected with the Zika virus when she was 12 weeks pregnant. Doctors in Washington, D.C., are studying her son and other children to see if the virus has affected their health.

Scientists were worried about Zika at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. But a recent study found there was no evidence of the virus in athletes and staff. They did, however, find other viruses.

About 5 percent of pregnant women infected with Zika in Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories last year had babies with birth defects, says the federal health agency. And the risk isn't over.

The vaccine against Zika vaccine was developed by the Army, with the government paying for clinical trials, too. Health officials want to be sure drugmaker Sanofi Pasteur doesn't make it unaffordable.

Travelers infected with the Zika virus in the Caribbean brought it to South Florida multiple times before officials realized it had reached the U.S., an analysis of virus genomes finds.

The Zika virus continues to impact a small number of pregnant women and their babies in the U.S., and there is no sign of it slowing down. "Zika is here to stay," the CDC's acting director says.

It's a bit of a paradox, but researchers say they need Zika virus to re-emerge this year so they can test vaccines designed to defeat it.

Puerto Rico has experienced many more cases of Zika virus than the continental U.S. But health and educational services are scarce on the islands for children born with disabilities.

Women who were infected with Zika virus while abroad and then came to the U.S. had complications about 6 percent of the time, a study finds. First-trimester exposure was linked to more birth defects.

More than 2,600 pregnant women on the island have tested positive for Zika. While the number of confirmed cases of fetal abnormalities has been small, officials are concerned about long-term effects.