Texas Zika case raises concerns that virus can be transmitted sexually

Dallas County health officials said one of the patients contracted Zika through sexual contact with a person who had picked up the virus in one of the countries the WHO says it has spread to. The virus has been linked to a birth defect called microcephaly, a malformed cranium and brain, in more than 4,000 babies born to women in Brazil.

According to health officials, the patient became infected after having sex with an individual who returned from one of the countries where Zika is circulating.

The World Health Organization has declared an global health emergency over Zika and warned that the virus may cause up to four million cases in the Americas.

The CDC confirmed the Zika case through lab testing and said it was the first USA infection in a non-traveler.

About 30 people in the United States have tested positive for Zika. Now that this new case confirms that Zika can be passed from person to person through unprotected sex, the medical community has a new round of questions.

According to Tim O’Connor with the Palm Beach County Health Department, now there are no cases of Zika in Palm Beach County and no current plans for aerial spraying for mosquitoes in the county.

There have been eight cases of Zika in Texas, seven of which occurred through foreign travel, the Texas Department of State Health Services said.

Dallas was also the site of the first USA case of Ebola in a man who had traveled from Liberia in 2014. Officials said people can avoid the Zika virus by protecting against mosquito bites and avoiding sexual contact with those infected.

The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week, and hospitalizations are rare.

Mosquitos used to be Public Enemy No. 1 when it came to the Zika virus.

All previous cases in the US were travelers returning to the USA from countries where the virus was acquired from mosquito bites.

Currently, there is no vaccine to prevent or medicine to treat the disease.