U.S. CDC sees potential widespread Zika virus in Puerto Rico

[February 11, 2016]  (Reuters) - The head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday told a Congressional hearing that he expects Puerto Rico to be hard hit by the Zika virus outbreak.

"We will likely see significant numbers of cases in Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories," CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden told the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing on the global Zika outbreak.

He said the agency is learning more about Zika every day, including the possibility of transmission of the virus from mothers to babies and links to a potentially serious birth defect called microcephaly, although that link has not yet been definitively proven.

Frieden told committee members that the CDC "will need additional resources" to do the work necessary to reduce the risks of Zika virus.

(Reporting by Bill Berkrot and Toni Clarke; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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