Puerto Rico might be hiding the effects of Zika to save its tourism industry


Puerto Rico has reported just 16 cases of births affected by the Zika virus, Stat reports — and that has U.S. officials suspicious. The virus, which swept across the Americas and other tropical regions last year, is known to cause congenital defects in babies if the mother contracts it while pregnant.
Stat notes that more than 3,300 pregnant women in Puerto Rico are known to have contracted the mosquito-borne illness, making the mere 16 reported cases of Zika-affected births all the more unlikely. A former U.S. health official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, speculated to Stat that the territorial government is obfuscating the severity of Zika to save its tourism industry, which is a huge source of revenue for the cash-strapped island.
"Puerto Rico's not escaping this. They're just hiding," the official said. "They're kind of in denial about what the problem is. And in six months, a year, two years from now, there will be all these babies who aren't learning and all these problems that will come to light."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
By contrast, there have been 63 reported Zika-affected births across the 50 U.S. states plus Washington, D.C., among just 1,300 pregnant women known to have the virus. Read more about Puerto Rico's improbably low Zika numbers at Stat.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
-
5 Post Office-approved cartoons about mail-in voting
Cartoons Artists take on reverse logic, Putin's election advice, and more
-
The battle of the weight-loss drugs
Talking Point Can Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly regain their former stock market glory? A lot is riding on next year's pills
-
Crossword: August 24, 2025
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fine
Speed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year