New Zika virus concerns

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New warnings about the Zika virus this morning. The mosquitoes that carry the virus are further north than first thought and top health officials in the U.S. say the more they learn about Zika, the scarier it appears.

Zika has spread through the Americas and Caribbean and has been linked to brain birth defects. Babies have been born with microcephaly in Brazil which is a birth defect where a baby has an abnormally small head and brain.

And now tropical disease experts are warning microcephaly could ravage parts of the U.S. like the Gulf Coast. The Zika virus is carried by the aedes aegypti mosquito.

Until recently, researchers believed it was found in just 12 states, but the new estimate is 30 states. And now researchers say unborn babies may be at risk throughout the mother’s pregnancy, not just in the first trimester.

Zika can also cause other forms of brain damage that may show up years later.

The National Institutes of Health and the CDC are issuing an urgent plea to congress. They’re asking for more money to fight the mosquitoes that spread Zika and for research into vaccines and treatments.