Scientists find Zika in saliva, urine; unclear if can transmit infection

As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on Thursday, the CDC is now advising any man who has traveled to one of the affected countries to use condoms during all sexual encounters with their pregnant partner for the duration of the pregnancy. “Our new guidance is that pregnant women should use condoms during sex or abstain if their partner has traveled to an area where Zika has been spreading”.

The disease is most commonly transmitted via mosquito bites and is an active threat in the Caribbean, Mexico and South and Central America, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A Brazilian health official warned pregnant women to think twice before giving a kiss as global measures mounted Friday against the Zika virus suspected of a link to birth defects.

It is recommended that pregnant women and those considering becoming pregnant discuss their travel plans with their health-care provider to assess their risk and consider postponing travel to areas where the Zika virus is circulating. It is now recommending that all pregnant women, even those without symptoms of the Zika virus, should be tested after returning from affected areas.

Federal health officials are stepping up their warnings of the virus, which was transmitted sexually in Texas for the first time this week – the first locally transmitted case in the U.S.

Also on Friday, the World Health Organization said 26 countries in the Americas now have Zika circulating.

Scientists are racing to try to create a vaccine for Zika, but it could be years until that is available to the public.

Colombian health officials say three people there have died of the Guillain-Barre syndrome after contracting the Zika virus.

During a teleconference on Friday, Dr. Frieden said because Zika is so new, they are “quite literally dicovering more about it each day”. The CDC said there have been 50 such cases so far.

Currently, Dallas County is reporting no cases of local transmission via mosquito, which is the main way Zika is spread.

As for women who are thinking about getting pregnant, “We wish we had a ideal test to determine if someone might be potentially infectious, but we don’t”, Frieden said.

With a recent discovery that the virus can be transmitted through sexual contact also, the UNFPA’s role has increased as an agency working on sexual and reproductive health sector, it maintained. It focused on ways to control the mosquito population spreading the virus, though reports of a USA patient catching the disease by having sex fuelled fears that it will not be easy to contain.

The CDC stressed that the Zika virus is still mainly spread by mosquitoes.