Pregnant women in US with Zika spikes on new counting method

NEW YORK (AP) — The number of pregnant women in the United States infected with Zika virus is suddenly tripling, due to a change in how the government is reporting cases.

Previously, officials had reported how many pregnant women had both Zika symptoms and positive blood tests. In a change announced today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's count will include all women who tested positive, regardless of symptoms.

There are now 157 pregnant women infected with Zika in the 50 states, up from the 48 reported last week under the old definition.

Experts emphasized that there does not appear to be any dramatic actual increase of pregnant women with the disease in recent months. There was a spike in diagnoses in February and March, but relatively few new cases since then, according to CDC data that includes women who experienced symptoms and those who didn't.