The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently changed its guidelines for Zika virus testing. The new guidance urges testing only for pregnant women who may have been exposed to and are symptomatic for the virus. The earlier recommendation, from December 2015, recommended testing all pregnant women in the U.S. who might have been exposed to the Zika virus.

In August 2016, Johns Hopkins opened a multidisciplinary Zika center, dedicated to testing and treating patients affected by this virus. 

“While testing recommendations have recently changed and the prevalence of Zika virus in the Americas has declined, pregnant women should still avoid travel to areas of active Zika virus transmission,” says Jeanne Sheffield, director of the Johns Hopkins Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and CDC pregnancy consultant. “Women and their partners who must travel to these areas should use appropriate mosquito prevention measures.”