NewsTracker Answers for week of Jan. 25, 2016

Q: The Zika virus has infected more than 1 million people in Brazil and has been linked in the past four months to nearly 4,000 cases of microcephaly, a birth defect which causes abnormally small heads in newborns. Where is Brazil?

Circle the area on this map

Q: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is now warning pregnant women to avoid traveling to Brazil and at least 21 other places where Zika has been spread by mosquitoes. The list includes the second most populated country in Latin America . . .

A. Argentina

B. Belize

C. Chile

D. Mexico

D. With 122 million people, Mexico ranks second to Brazil's 205 million population. Latin America is the group of countries and territories in the Americas where Romance languages – French, Portuguese and Spanish - are spoken. Argentina, Chile and English-speaking Belize were not on the CDC list as of last Friday.

Q: Four nations have warned women not to become pregnant until more is known about Zika. El Salvador issued the most extreme warning, asking women not to become pregnant until 2018. El Salvador is in . . .

A. North America

B. Central America

C. South America

B. More than 5,000 suspected Zika cases have been reported in El Salvador, and its Central American neighbors Honduras and Guatemala also are on the CDC warning list.

Q: The call to delay pregnancy appears to conflict with the Roman Catholic Church, which is the majority religion in the region. A church spokesman talked about the issue in El Salvador's capital city . . .

A. Managua

B. San Jose

C. San Salvador

D. Tegucigalpa

C. “Morality says that people shouldn’t have that control” over procreation, the church spokesman said. “But the church also isn’t going to say something that runs contrary to life and health.” He also said the archbishop of San Salvador had not yet formulated an official response on the issue.

Q: Women have also been warned against travel to what U.S. territory in the Caribbean?

A. Puerto Rico

B. Jamaica

C. Guam

D. Antigua

A. While transmission of Zika has been reported in Puerto Rico, cases also have been reported on the U.S. mainland among returning travelers. During the winter there is little chance of Zika spreading on the mainland, but the species of mosquito that spreads the virus is common in the southern states during warmer months.