The first baby in the continental U.S. with Zika-related birth defects was born Tuesday — the same day the World Health Organization tightened up its travel guidelines and advice in the wake of the destructive virus’ spread.

“The bottom line is that no one knows what the correct response is,” said one epidemiologist.

The administration’s lax stance on this has many Americans wondering if it isn’t time for stricter travel restrictions — or an all-out ban.

People who have traveled to countries such as Honduras — where the latest Zika baby’s mother contracted the virus — are being urged to abstain from unprotected sexual activity for eight weeks. Previously, the WHO had advised people to wait just four weeks.

“The fact that they keep having to revise the guidelines to make them more strict tells me the administration and most global health bureaucrats have not taken this disease seriously enough all along,” said Jessica Vaughn, director of policy studies with the Center for Immigration Studies.

“This is backwards — [a better] approach would have been to be more conservative and more strict from the beginning and ease up if warranted, rather than repeatedly having to say, ‘Oops, our prior guidance was not careful enough,'” she told LifeZette. “People who have trusted their guidance now may have been overly exposed.”

‘No One Knows’ 
There are still many unknowns with Zika — hence the changing guidelines, said Lee Riley, an epidemiology and infectious disease professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

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“The bottom line is that no one knows what the correct response is,” Riley said. “The recommendations being made now are based on what’s known so far, and they could change as we learn more.”

Since men have transmitted the virus thus far, those with symptoms — a rash, fever, red eyes, and painful joints or muscles — should practice safe sex or consider abstaining from it for at least six months, the WHO now states. Those in areas of active infection should consider delaying pregnancy with their partners and be equipped to use emergency contraception. The WHO is unsure yet if women or asymptomatic men can transmit the virus via sexual relations.

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On Wednesday, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences also announced it was creating the NIEHS Worker Training Program to train some 35,000 first responders and workers on infectious diseases.

The $9 million, three-year WTP will oversee the Ebola Biosafety and Infectious Disease Response Training, which will educate health care workers and other professionals in fields such as waste management, transportation and mortuaries.

[lz_bulleted_list title=”Zika by the Numbers” source=”http://www.cdc.gov”]U.S.: 591|U.S. Territories: 939|Pregnancies in the U.S.: 168|Pregnancies in U.S. Territories: 142[/lz_bulleted_list]

More Concerns
Suzanne Staebler, a neonatal nurse practitioner and associate professor at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University in Georgia, believes the authorities are doing what they can to stop the spread of the virus and that people simply need to use precaution. The public may be wary of the WHO’s changing guidelines, she said. But the latest recommendations “are more than sufficient” to protect travelers.

Vaughn doesn’t feel the same. She worries the Obama administration has put its desire to appear on top of this issue and allow open borders above the need to protect the public from health risks. Americans should and can question the government on its ability to protect them from public health risks, she said.

“No wonder the electorate is in such a grumpy mood. The public trust has been greatly eroded by continued failures in the Obama administration’s approach to both national security and public health security,” said Vaughn.

‘Refuses to Distinguish Between Immigrants’
Stricter travel restrictions, or a ban on people coming to the U.S. from Zika-infected nations, have not been enacted. That’s something Vaughn said authorities must consider.

“Clearly, the government should have taken this more seriously and been more vigilant,” said one expert.

“No one’s vacation in the United States is an emergency, but exposing a vulnerable person to this virus at the wrong time could have serious consequences,” she said. The mother of the Zika baby that was born in New Jersey traveled from Honduras to the U.S. to seek better medical care, CNN reported.

“In considering how to protect American citizens, the president should not rule out using our immigration laws and policies as they were intended,” said Marguerite Telford, director of communications for the Center for Immigration Studies. Possible moves could be implementing travel restrictions or suspending consular services and restricting visas for individuals coming to the United States.

“But don’t look for it to happen,” she said. “The administration typically refuses to distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants.”

The administration seems to believe that the virus is here to stay and citizens have to adjust their behavior, Vaughn said.

“Clearly, the government should have taken this more seriously and been more vigilant in clamping down on the opportunities to spread the virus,” she said. “Instead of closing the barn door earlier, now they are telling everyone to just watch out for the escaped horse.”