Zika virus warning adds places for pregnant women to avoid

Federal health officials on Friday added eight destinations to the list of those to which pregnant women should not travel in order to avoid infection with the Zika virus, which has been linked to brain damage in newborns.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added Barbados, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guadeloupe, St. Martin and Guyana, as well as the island nations of Samoa, in the South Pacific, and Cape Verde, which sits off the northwest coast of Africa.

St. Martin, Barbados and Guadeloupe are popular tourist destinations, so the travel industry will most likely be affected by the virus, which is spread by mosquitoes.

The CDC urged women trying to become pregnant to talk to their physicians about the risks of Zika virus infection before traveling.

Women who become infected, especially early in pregnancy, seem to be at higher risk of giving birth to babies with tiny heads and deformed brains, a condition called microcephaly.

Earlier this week, the CDC urged blood testing for pregnant women who have experienced symptoms during or shortly after travel to a country where the Zika virus is spreading.

In October, Cape Verde reported the first l ocal transmission of Zika virus infection, and Samoa reported its first in November. It was not immediately clear why those countries were not part of the CDC’s earlier travel advisory.

The latest travel advice remained a Level 2 advisory, meaning it concerns only travelers with specific risk factors — in this case, pregnancy.

But Guillain-Barré syndrome, a possible lifethreatening paralysis, has been found in men and women with probable Zika infection in Brazil and French Polynesia.