Zika virus fears lead Saskatoon woman to cancel Mexico trip

A Saskatoon woman and her husband have cancelled a trip to Mexico over concerns about the Zika virus.

Found in Mexico, Brazil and Puerto Rico, the Zika virus is linked to microcephaly, which causes babies to be born with unusually small heads. The virus is spread through mosquitos.

Saskatoon woman Karly Just is four months pregnant. She didn't want to take the risk.

"We immediately contacted our doctor and she recommended that we don't go, " she said. "She told us the side effects of the virus and it was extremely scary. So, we immediately cancelled our trip."

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While the general public has nothing to fear from the Zika virus, pregnant women are being warned against travelling to affected areas.

"We've had [our trip] planned for about two months now," she said. "We were looking really forward to it, but that's okay. We're not going to go. It's not worth it."

While Just's cancellation insurance wouldn't cover her costs, she managed to get most of her flight costs back.

"If my friend didn't tell us about it when he did, we would have had to cancel our trip probably this week, which would have probably been too late and we wouldn't have gotten any money back from our airline," she said. "Luckily, we were able to cancel far enough in advance that we got almost a full credit."

Now, the family is planing a 'staycation' in Saskatoon.

"I would just advise that if anyone is pregnant not to go because it`s a very serious virus," she said. "I just don`t think it`s worth the risk to go at any cost."