CLOSE The CDC reports hundreds of women in the United States and its territories have shown signs of infection from the Zika virus. This is what health officials want you to know so that you can defend yourself and your unborn baby. Florida Today 
 
 President Obama delivers remarks beside Vice President Biden after receiving a briefing on the response to the Zika virus in the Oval Office Friday. (Photo: MICHAEL REYNOLDS, EPA) 
 
 WASHINGTON — President Obama told Congress not to leave town before passing a Zika funding bill amid new reports that 279 pregnant women from the United States and its territories have shown signs of infection from the Zika virus. 
 
 "Here's the upshot: This is something that is solvable. This is not something we need to panic about. But this is something we have to take seriously," Obama said. "Congress needs to get me a bill. They should not be going off on recess before this is done." 
 
 Obama spoke after meeting with his top public safety advisers in the Oval Office Friday. He said scientists are still learning about the scope and effects of the virus, which can cause severe birth defects and miscarriages in pregnant women. 
 
 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that 157 pregnant women in the continental United States — and 122 in its territories — have tested positive for the virus, 
 
 Less than a half-dozen of those women have reported adverse outcomes, but most are still pregnant and it's not yet known whether those numbers will increase over time, said Dr. Margaret Honein, chief of the CDC's Birth Defects Branch. 
 
 The new numbers are as of May 12 and, for the first time, count women who have tested positive for Zika even if they haven't shown symptoms, so they're not comparable to previously reported numbers. Previously, just 47 pregnant women in the continental United States, and 65 in the territories, were reported to have Zika symptoms. 
 
 "I think it’s a combination of both — both increasing numbers of pregnant women with a Zika infection, and also a recent change in how we’re reporting out the numbers on a weekly basis," Honein said. 
 
 In all, 544 cases of Zika have been reported in the continental United States. But because pregnant women are most closely monitored for the disease, that might be the best indicator of how quickly the disease is spreading. As of Wednesday, none of the cases in the mainland were caused by local mosquitoes, and instead involved people who had recently traveled to Zika-prone areas. There are also 10 confirmed cases of sexual transmission, but the CDC would not say how many of them involved pregnant women. 
 
 Even more concerning, Obama said, in Puerto Rico, where the virus is quickly spreading through mosquitoes. 
 
 "This is not something we can build a wall to prevent. Mosquitoes don't go through customs," Obama said. 
 
 Obama met with Vice President Biden, Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell, Director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci and Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tom Frieden. 
 
 The meeting comes as Congress debates how much emergency funding to approve for Zika response before going on recess after Memorial Day, when the summer season heats up and mosquitoes become more active. The Senate has approved $1.1 billion; the House has approved $622 million. The White House has threatened to veto the House bill if it's sent to the president's desk. Obama said Friday the problem with the House bill is that it "robs Peter to pay Paul." 
 
 The White House has asked for $1.9 billion. 
 
 "We didn't just choose $1.9 billion from the top of our heads. This was based on a public health assessment of all the work that needs to be done," Obama said. 
 
 That work includes vaccine development — "You don't get a vaccine overnight," Obama said — and mosquito eradication. "That's a tough piece of business, because we've been using insecticides for a long time that have become less and less effective," he said. 
 
 And Obama said that cost is modest in comparison to the human and financial toll of caring for the babies born with smaller heads because of microcephaly, a birth defect linked to Zika. 
 
 "If I'm a young family right now, or thinking about starting a family, this is a piece of insurance I'd want to have," he said. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1TrMGjq ||||| Story highlights There are 279 pregnant women with Zika virus infections in the U.S. and its territories 
 
 The CDC's tracking of pregnant women with Zika includes those who don't have symptoms 
 
 (CNN) The number of pregnant women in the United States reported to have the Zika virus has more than tripled, increasing from 48 to 157, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. 
 
 Dr. Margaret Honein, chief of the CDC's birth defects branch, said the agency is aware of "less than a dozen" babies or fetuses who have suffered the consequences of Zika infection, which can include devastating neurological birth defects. However, she emphasized that most of the 157 pregnancies are ongoing, so it's not known how many babies will suffer. 
 
 "The CDC's top priority in the Zika response is protecting pregnant women and their fetuses," Honein said. 
 
 Not a single person is known to have contracted Zika from a mosquito bite in the U.S. They've gotten it while traveling to a country where Zika is endemic, or they've contracted it sexually from a male partner who's traveled to one of those areas. 
 
 Just this week, the CDC's website reported that there 48 pregnant women with Zika in the U.S. 
 
 Read More ||||| This report launches the weekly reporting of pregnant women with laboratory evidence of possible Zika virus infection in U.S. states and territories. Monitoring all pregnant women with possible Zika virus infection during pregnancy, whether asymptomatic or symptomatic, will enhance understanding of possible adverse outcomes and allow better estimates of the number of pregnancies at risk for adverse outcomes. This information will assist health care providers who counsel pregnant women and will facilitate planning services for affected families. 
 
 In February 2016, CDC, in collaboration with state, local, tribal, and territorial health departments, launched comprehensive surveillance systems to report and actively monitor pregnancies and congenital outcomes among symptomatic and asymptomatic women with laboratory evidence of possible Zika virus infection. As of May 12, 2016, there were 157 and 122 pregnant women with laboratory evidence of possible Zika virus infection residing in U.S. states and U.S. territories, respectively. 
 
 Zika virus is a cause of microcephaly and brain abnormalities (1), and it is the first known mosquito-borne infection to cause congenital anomalies in humans. The establishment of a comprehensive surveillance system to monitor pregnant women with Zika virus infection will provide data to further elucidate the full range of potential outcomes for fetuses and infants of mothers with asymptomatic and symptomatic Zika virus infection during pregnancy. In February 2016, Zika virus disease and congenital Zika virus infections became nationally notifiable conditions in the United States (2). Cases in pregnant women with laboratory evidence of Zika virus infection who have either 1) symptomatic infection or 2) asymptomatic infection with diagnosed complications of pregnancy can be reported as cases of Zika virus disease to ArboNET* (2), CDC’s national arboviral diseases surveillance system. Under existing interim guidelines from the Council for State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), asymptomatic Zika virus infections in pregnant women who do not have known pregnancy complications are not reportable. ArboNET does not currently include pregnancy surveillance information (e.g., gestational age or pregnancy exposures) or pregnancy outcomes. To understand the full impact of infection on the fetus and neonate, other systems are needed for reporting and active monitoring of pregnant women with laboratory evidence of possible Zika virus infection during pregnancy. Thus, in collaboration with state, local, tribal, and territorial health departments, CDC established two surveillance systems to monitor pregnancies and congenital outcomes among women with laboratory evidence of Zika virus infection† in the United States and territories: 1) the U.S. Zika Pregnancy Registry (USZPR),§ which monitors pregnant women residing in U.S. states and all U.S. territories except Puerto Rico, and 2) the Zika Active Pregnancy Surveillance System (ZAPSS), which monitors pregnant women residing in Puerto Rico. As of May 12, 2016, the surveillance systems were monitoring 157 and 122 pregnant women with laboratory evidence of possible Zika virus infection from participating U.S. states and territories, respectively. Tracking and monitoring clinical presentation of Zika virus infection, all prenatal testing, and adverse consequences of Zika virus infection during pregnancy are critical to better characterize the risk for congenital infection, the performance of prenatal diagnostic testing, and the spectrum of adverse congenital outcomes. These data will improve clinical guidance, inform counseling messages for pregnant women, and facilitate planning for clinical and public health services for affected families. 
 
 Zika virus disease and congenital Zika virus infection are defined by the interim CSTE case definition and include confirmed and probable cases with laboratory evidence of infection (2). The clinical criteria for Zika virus disease include the presence of one of four symptoms (fever, rash, arthralgia, and conjunctivitis), or Guillain-Barré syndrome, or an adverse pregnancy outcome (fetal loss, or in utero findings of microcephaly or intracranial calcifications) in a symptomatic or asymptomatic mother with compatible illness or epidemiologic risk factors for Zika virus infection. Clinical criteria for Zika virus congenital infection in infants include microcephaly, intracranial calcifications, or other central nervous system abnormalities (2). Jurisdictions report cases meeting these criteria to ArboNET. Although jurisdictions can report asymptomatic infection in pregnant women without pregnancy complications to ArboNET, this reporting is at the discretion of the local jurisdiction and is not universal. Current ArboNET reporting includes cases of Zika virus disease that meet the interim CSTE case definition. 
 
 For the purposes of the USZPR and ZAPSS, laboratory evidence of possible Zika virus infection is defined as a positive Zika virus real-time reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) test result (i.e., a confirmed case of Zika virus infection) or an equivocal or presumptive positive Zika virus immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibody capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test result (3–5).¶ Plaque reduction neutralization testing (PRNT) performed in conjunction with the IgM ELISA must have Zika PRNT titers ≥10 for inclusion. Pregnant women who meet laboratory criteria are included in the surveillance systems whether they report symptoms or not. Women are included retrospectively if laboratory evidence of congenital Zika virus infection is identified in fetal tissues, the placenta, or the infant. 
 
 The USZPR was initiated primarily to monitor outcomes in pregnant women returning from travel to areas with local Zika virus transmission (6). To date the majority of cases in pregnant women reported to USZPR are associated with travel, but it also includes cases of sexual transmission (7) and local transmission from the U.S. territories. ZAPSS was developed separately for Puerto Rico to conduct enhanced surveillance in pregnant women at risk for Zika virus infection as a result of ongoing local Zika virus transmission. Using USZPR and ZAPSS, CDC will report the number of pregnant women with laboratory evidence of possible Zika virus infection weekly on its website. Data reported by noon Eastern Standard Time each Thursday (for this report, May 12, 2016) will be verified and reported in aggregate the following Thursday. Reporting is subject to a lag of 1 week to verify data from each participating jurisdiction. Reports from Arizona and Idaho have not yet been verified and are excluded from the current report. 
 
 As of May 12, 2016, combined data from USZPR and ZAPSS include 279 reports of pregnant women with laboratory evidence of possible Zika virus infection, including 157 pregnant women residing in U.S. states and the District of Columbia (Figure 1) and 122 residing in U.S. territories (Figure 2). As of May 11, 2016, 113 pregnant women meeting clinical criteria for Zika virus disease were reported to CDC through ArboNET, 48 in U.S. states, and 65 in U.S. territories. 
 
 Among the 157 pregnant women from U.S. states and the District of Columbia monitored through USZPR, 73 (49%)** reported clinical symptoms consistent with Zika virus disease. Among these symptomatic pregnant women, 64 (88%) reported rash, 36 (49%) arthralgia, 37 (51%) fever, and 17 (23%) conjunctivitis. Among all pregnancies included from U.S. states, Zika virus nucleic acid detection by rRT-PCR was reported in 39 (25%). 
 
 Among 122 pregnant residents of the U.S. territories†† being monitored in USZPR or ZAPSS, 80 (66%)§§ reported clinical symptoms consistent with Zika virus disease. Among these symptomatic women, 60 (75%) reported rash, 29 (36%) arthralgia, 27 (34%) fever, and 15 (19%) conjunctivitis. Among all women included from U.S. territories, Zika virus nucleic acid detection by rRT-PCR in serum was identified in 67 (55%).
– The number of pregnant women in the US and its territories with the Zika virus has nearly tripled, according to a report from the CDC released Friday. USA Today reports 157 pregnant women in the continental US and another 122 in US territories tested positive for the virus, which can cause miscarriages and birth defects. It's unclear how much of the reported increase is due to the spread of Zika and how much is due to the CDC now counting women who tested positive but don't show symptoms, according to CNN. So far, none of the women were infected by mosquitoes in the US. Most got it while traveling to other countries, while a handful contracted Zika through sex. President Obama is meeting with health officials Friday to discuss a response to the virus.