Federal health officials announced Friday a total of 279 pregnant women in the United States have tested positive for Zika, meaning their babies are now at risk of being born with birth defects.
But the numbers, in the end, may not mean all that much. According to feds, Zika can be easily confused with Dengue – and as such, the figures may be misleading.
Regardless, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention specified 157 of the Zika-infected women hailed from the 50 states and Washington, D.C., while another 122 reside in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and other U.S. territories.
The announcement comes on the heels of a federal decision made a while ago for health officials to start reporting Zika related figures on a more regular basis in order to better gauge the actual chances of infected pregnant women giving birth to babies with defects, NBC News said.
But here's the kicker: the numbers may not be true indicators of Zika.
Margaret Honein, the head of the CDC's birth defects branch, said Zika-related numbers will be reported each Thursday, and will include even those women whose test results come back with fuzzy results that indicate the infection may be rooted in Dengue, rather than Zika, NBC News said.
"Our goal is to track all Zika-affected pregnancies," she said, during a telephone conference call with reporters.
Friday's announcement of 279 Zika cases was part of this newfound penchant for regular reporting to the public.
CDC officials also said fewer than a dozen pregnant women who tested positive for Zika have actually had an "adverse event," defined as miscarriage or as a birth defect in the born baby. And they acknowledged that the numbers could also include women who've long ago stopped being pregnant. For instance, some in that group of 279 have already delivered their babies; some miscarried; some perhaps had abortions.
"These new numbers reflect a broader group of pregnant women – pregnant women who have [had] any laboratory evidence of possible Zika virus infection and whether or not they recalled symptoms – compared with numbers previously reported," the CDC said, in a statement.
Medical authorities say Zika is transmitted by mosquito bites and sexual contact, but not all – in fact, not even most – pregnant women who test positive for it ultimately deliver babies with birth defects.