CDC issues guidelines for preventing sexual transmission of Zika virus

Still, the CDC said, men with a pregnant sex partner who live in or have traveled to an area where Zika is spreading should use condoms during sex for the duration of the pregnancy or abstain from sex altogether. But there are things that people can do to lower their risk of contracting the virus, including rigorously protecting against mosquito bites, which are the usual mode of Zika transmission, and following the new guidelines to prevent sexual transmission, Frieden said.

Brazil’s health ministry said it had been collaborating with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to try to nail down whether Zika causes Guillain-Barré. For the one out of five who become ill, symptoms are usually mild.

The infection is associated with severe birth defects, including microcephaly (a condition in which a baby’s head is smaller than expected when compared to babies of the same sex and age) and other poor pregnancy outcomes in babies of mothers who were infected with Zika virus while pregnant. The agency notes that to date there have not been reports of sexually transmitted Zika from a woman to her sexual partners.

Jonathan Serrie joined Fox News Channel (FNC) in April 1999 and now serves as a correspondent based in the Atlanta bureau.

The government announced the move following the outbreak of the mosquito-borne virus in parts of Latin America, the Caribbean and the Cape Verde Islands. If a woman is trying to get pregnant, you may consider testing in discussion with your health care provider. There are no vaccines to protect against Zika virus. Organizers of the Games said on Tuesday they were concerned by the rapid spread of Zika, but had not seen evidence of people cancelling travel.

Also on Friday, Brazilian researchers reported that they have found the “active” presence of the Zika virus in saliva and urine samples, raising the possibility that the infection could be spread via kissing. Currently, there are 10 confirmed Zika cases in Texas including seven in Harris County, one in Bexar County and two in Dallas County. And all three cases involve people who took trips to Central and South America.

Zika is primarily contracted through mosquito bites – pregnant women can pass the virus on to their fetus; it also can be transmitted from blood transfusions or through sexual contact.