Some type of bug going around or whatever. He said because i wanted to go on vacation. Reporter the mosquito borne zika virus is active in central and south america and the caribbean. Pregnant women should reconsider travel to affected countries. Cancel that trip if you are trying to get pregnant or you may newly pregnant. You really just dont want to put yourself in a position where a simple mosquito bite could endanger the health of your unborn baby. Reporter the virus is the suspected cause of birth defects that are spiking in brazil. Hundreds of babies born with undersized heads, a condition known as microcephaly. Manhattan Marketing Executive kristine decided to cancel her trip to the caribbean. Im 14 weeks pregnant. I dont think mothers ever want to take that chance. Reporter Nassau County has one case from someone who recently traveled. Its urging airlines and travel businesses to allow concerned passengers to change or cancel plans without penalty. Anyone with the concern that has already made plans, the travel to one of the are pregnant, they along with their travel companions should get a full refund. Reporter there are three cases in new york city including a pregnant woman infected while traveling out of the country. Health Officials Say because the specific mosquito that transmits zika is not found in new york, they do not anticipate a major outbreak. We are optimistic that we will not see zika transmission happening here but out of an abundance of caution were going increase our surveillance and control measures. Reporter the mosquito that transmits it has a cousin thats active in our region in warm weather months. Health agencies are preparing a battle plan to monitor that mosquito and annual eradication efforts are likely to be stepped up as a precaution. Tony, thank you. So where did the zika name come from . The virus is named after uganda zika forest where originally it was identified in 1947. Its a small forest just 62 acres compared to central parks 843 acres. Zika means overgrown in the now, cbs 2s dr. Max gomez is here to clear up some of the confusion. A lot of talk and, of course, this has been a big story for days. Absolutely. And you know, a lot of questions as we were mentioning about expecting moms. And tony actually mentioned one in his piece where there is a female infected with the virus and she is pregnant. So what are the doctors concerned about here . Reporter if youre not pregnant, first of all, and youre not planning on getting pregnant or you may not be pregnant at the time, thats really not a concern. Its really primarily for pregnant women. They are the ones who really have to worry about it. If you are pregnant and you have traveled to these countries in the last several weeks during this time, you may then want to be tested. But thats a complicated issue because if you are going the testing is complicated. And unclear when you can pick up this microcephaly. If you are not going to make any decisions based on whether or not your child developed this then you may or may not want to do anything about testing. The question is people who are its today concern for women who are pregnant right now. If you are planning to get pregnant, how much forethought needs to be made here concerning this . First of all, you dont want to visit any of the countries that are on the watch list. The cdc watch list. Theres two dozen countries, south and Central America and the caribbean some areas in africa, as well. And in southeast asia. Those are the areas where you want to be careful. There, you probably want to stay away from that. Right now, theres no there are no infected mosquitos in the United States. All the cases that have shown up in the United States have been in people who have visited those countries. If you plan to get pregnant stay way from those countries. What are the symptoms . Reporter pretty mild. Eight out of ten people who get infected have no symptoms at all. The rest of the symptoms are sort of mild flulike symptoms. You may not even realize that they are a mild flulike symptoms, aches and pains, kind of bloodshot eyes, pink eye, and a fever. Its not really all that serious. No vaccine for it . No. For treating this currently . No way of treating it. Its a virus no way of treating it. You need a lot of cases before companies and researchers really get around to developing a vaccine for this. And up until now it had been relatively i would say unknown in the western hemisphere. Before we let you go, i want to remind people that this conversation will continue. Youre going to have a light chat on facebook. Youll be taking questions and answering peoples questions and thats coming up at 5 15 on facebook. Com cbsnewyork because this is something that is ripping the entire gripping the entire nation now. There are questions people have. Well try to answer them. What do you see . I know that the one representative that we heard from right there is confident there wont be a major outbreak in the area. But this just seems to be spreading quickly. Its the cdc and others spread across the americas. In the states you dont see those mosquitos very much except in florida, hawaii, texas. Those areas. We probably wont see that up here. We take the proactive approach to we really are much better at Mosquito Control which is the biggest area than we are in some of these other areas. I dont want to panic people by any means. Its just a concern. Dr. Max, thank you. For more information on the zika virus including frequently asks questioned and treatment options, do visit cbsnewyork. Com. And also join dr. Max at 5 15 on facebook. Com cbsnewyork. In other news a Police Pursuit in brooklyn ends with gunfire. Investigators say officers shot an Armed Robbery suspect as he tried to make a getaway. Cbs 2s Hazel Sanchez live in the midwood section with details here at 5 00. Hazel. Reporter yeah. The robbery suspects crashed a rented getaway car at the intersection, behind me. You can see the active crime scene. There are two suspects in police custody. Police shot him in the abdomen. He is expected to survive. A third suspect is still on the loose. This normally quiet Midwood Brooklyn neighborhood was rattled by the piercing sound of gunfire. Police busted two robbery suspects after an Intense Police chase ended in a crash. One suspect seen here face down on the ground shot by police. Very scared and shaken up. Very shaken up. Reporter joe says he was walking into his home on east 14th street just after 11 a. M. He heard chaos down the street on avenue o. I was in my driveway heard the crash and came out and heard four shots. I looked at the corner and i saw the cop running after one guy that was going this way and two other guys running on the other side. Reporter police say the suspects had just robbed this nearby Verizon Store on avenue p and east 2nd street. Fernandez sanchez works at a juice bar across the street. Shocked, panicked. They ordered the employees into a back room at the location. They then removed a quantity of cell phones from the store. Reporter police say a verizon employee pursued the robbers while another worker called police with the suspect descriptions. Police were tailing the men when they crashed their getaway suv into a parked car. Three males fled the vehicle. One of those males was brandishing a firearm. Our Uniformed Police officer fired several rounds at that male. Reporter did you come out here as soon as you heard the cop . I did. I was scared of what was happening. I was like nothing really happens on this block. Reporter investigators recovered two semiautomatic handguns and a Police Scanner here at the scene. The 27yearold Uniformed Police officer who fired his gun has been on the job for six years. He was not injured. Live in midwood, brooklyn, Hazel Sanchez, cbs2 news. Suspect during a traffic stop this morning. The Hudson CountyProsecutor Says two plainclothes officers pulled over a stolen car at the intersection of ocean and virginia avenues. During the encounter, one of the officers shot the driver multiple times. He is in Critical Condition with gunshot wounds to the upper body. One of the officers was also injured. The shooting is under investigation. French police have detained a man with handguns at the disneyland paris complex. Police say the suspect had two weapons and the koran and a rested his female companion. The arrest happened at a New York Hotel part of the complex. Nobody was hurt. The country has been under a state of emergency since terrorists attacked paris on november 13 killing 130 people. Police say two men arrested in a car theft ring may also be linked to last outside a hotel near kennedy airport. A 53yearold woman was shot in the close and pistol whipped her daughter outside hampton inn. The gunman is shown on Surveillance Video running to a white car and driving off. The two men arrested are suspected in car thefts across new york city and long island. A stolen white volkswagen recovered. The Bergen County boy who was attacked by a raccoon was expected to be released from the hospital today. 6yearold boy suffered wounds under his eye on on his cheek where the animal attacked him. It happened as he walked with his mother to his elmwood park school. They were near 16th avenue and boulevard. The raccoon crossed the street and pounced on him. At first his mother didnt know what was going on. Initially i thought it was a monkey. Later on i noticed it was something else. Its cold and he was covered with jacket and only his face was open. Luckily a man in his car he grabbed a pole and swung at the raccoon and killed it. It is now being tested for rabies. Safety concerns on the custody. One flasher in custody another on the run. Commuters taking precautions after unprovoked slashing attacks. A sexting business some students were allegedly running for months. Paying more and getting less. An investigation finds fans are getting shortchanged at concerts and sporting events. Then later, from dropping Staten Island to give him the cold why mayor de blasio is skipping a city tradition next week. Lonnie. We are going to check on how much the snow is melting and check in on the precipitation chance for a bit. Increase in slashing crimes are claimed to be mere coincidence. As dave carlin reports that doesnt calm residentss rising fears. Very bad. Reporter new yorkers are in a heightened state of caution and vigilance worried that strange could be ready to pounce with unprovoked violence in the subways. Uv no idea until its too late. Reporter but even today the citys top cop commissioner bratton suggests slashings about a dozen since december are largely coincidence. [ inaudible ] i ride the subway system. My wife rides it. It is very safe. Reporter relatively, they are. But this is something we have to address. Its real. Its happening right now. Reporter chilling proof is footage. The slashing suspects include those who are welldressed who strike without warning slashing victims often young women who dont even make eye contact. New yorkers say with these events that appear to be multiplying they are much more inclined to rely on services. Residents say they understand crime is part of city life. But something this random by a growing number of unconnected criminals digs deep into our psyches. So even though nypd says more police are patrolling subways and streets, residents say give us even more officers that we can see. In midtown, dave carlin, cbs 2 news. Commissioner bratton said crime is inescapable but added there is less crime in this city than at any time in the last 25 to 50 years. The socalled affluenza teen is now in a juvenile Detention Center in texas after he was extradited from mexico. Police escorted ethan couch through the Dallas Fort Worth airport this morning. Prosecutors say couch fled to mexico with his mother during an investigation into whether he violated his probation. Couch was sentenced to probation for a drunk driving crash that killed four people. His attorneys argue that he was irresponsible because of now couch is due to appear in court tomorrow. Donald trump is sticking to his plans to boycott tonights gop debate in iowa and hold another event at the same time and now he will have some company from other gop candidates. Cbs 2s dick brennan has more. Reporter Rick Santorum and huckabee will join donald trump after their undercard debate. I didnt have anything going on at 8 00. Reporter trump says fox and megyn kelly have been unfair to him so he will hold his own evented at the same time as the debate at Drake University and trump is sticking to his guns despite a plea last night from foxs bill oreilly. Heres what it is. Turning the other cheek. Youre taking this much more seriously than i am. Im not taking it seriously. I want you to consider all right . Think about it, look, i might come back. Forgive, go forward. I dont like being taken advantage of. In this case i was being taken reporter 32 of voters in iowa support trump. Cruz has 25 . Rubio 18 . I think it shows how confident donald trump is that he has some momentum here in iowa. But its not without risk. Reporter and cruz is now challenging trump to their own debate. How about the two of us in a oneonone debate man oman no. Reporter governor christie remembered when he was bumped to the undercard. I thought it was unfair but that he was their decision what did i do in response to that decision . Did i whine and moan . Did i refuse to show up . Did i hold my breath and stamp my feet . No. And i didnt act like a child when something went wrong for me. I acted like a leader. He said it will be a Campaign Event for veterans. Two veterans organizations wont accept any money from the trump event. So the show goes on. It will be interesting to see the ratings. A little window . No. Doesnt sound like it. Mayor de blasio will campaign in iowa for Hillary Clinton and skip tuesdays groundhog ceremony. In 2014 Staten Island chuck slipped out of the mayors hands and hit the ground and died from internal injuries. A veterinarian says the groundhogs death was not because of the mayors drop. Wed like to hear your thoughts on the mayors skipping the tradition. Log on to facebook. Com cbsnewyork. How do you have that ceremony without the snare. Im sure the groundhogs arent complaining. [ laughter ] lonnie quinn here to look at our forecast coming up. Groundhog day right around the corner. Yeah. I remember that video. I didnt remember the groundhog died. Couple of days later. Last year. Yup. The fall had nothing to do with it though nothing to do with him being dropped on his head. [ laughter ] now, theres your picture. Fair skies. Its 40 degrees right now as we speak. No doubt youre melting snow not as fast as melting it in days past. Maximum snow total was 26. 8 late inside just around midnight or so. Tuesday 5 p. M. You were at 17. Yesterday at this hour you were at 9. Right now youre down to 6. But whats going to happen . Last few inches will melt at a slower rate because they are closer to the cold earth. But thats going to be melting nonetheless. Goodlooking shot. You will be fine overnight. For your day tomorrow with a system to our north that holds cold air but not as much moisture, and a system to our south thats a lot of moisture, but milder air, would they be merging into the big storm with all the components . It doesnt look like thats the case. Looks like they stay independent. In between a windy day tomorrow. If you pick up any coming from the north. That will be part of the friday forecast but not so much tonight. Tonight more clouds out there 33 degrees. So plenty of you will be dropping down to the freezing mark outside the city so you have to worry about slippery spots in the morning. So same drill continues. Well talk fridays forecast and the chance to see some precipitation a little later. Chris and kristine, over to you. Thank you. The citys new [ indiscernible ] may cause major headaches this weekend. Why were some streets plowed and which werent . If you play with barbie dolls like i did you think blonde hair, blue eyes and specific body type. But barbie is getting a makeover. Well tell you about the changes coming up. Then later, the holy father and a heartthrob. Leonardo dicaprio gives pope francis a big gift. Dr. Max gomez live in our newsroom right now hosting a Facebook Chat about the zika virus. Join the conversation right facebook. Com cbsnewyork. Ive been a turkey farmer my whole life. And i raise turkey for shady brook farms. We dont use growthpromoting antibiotics, thats just the way things should be done. Thats important to me. My name is glenn, and im an independent turkey farmer. female announcer shady brook farms. No growthpromoting antibiotics, welcome back to cbs 2 news. Im dana tyler in the newsroom with alice gainer working on a story for the 6 00 news. Two 12yearold boys in an Afterschool Program fighting. You see an adult standing i spoke with the father of one i spoke with the father of one of those boys and their lawyer. They want an investigation launched into why this after school coach seemingly did nothing to break up the fight. Thanks. See you at 6 00. A new look for barbie. The doll has been around for nearly 60 years is getting a makeover to reflect the changing times. Cindy hsu checks it out. [ music ] reporter since 1959, Barbra Roberts better known as barbie has been a household name. [ music ] reporter she has had more than 180 careers and is a pop culture icon. But just weeks before her 57th birthday, barbies getting a makeover. We were hearing that, you know, many thought that barbie was out of touch. Reporter as a typically white doll with unrealistic proportions some parents thought barbie was sending the wrong message about beauty. There are people who turned away from barbie because they wanted dolls that more resemble themselves. Reporter mattel recently diff