CDC Investigates 14 Sexually Transmitted Zika Virus Cases

Three pregnant women tested positive for the Zika virus in Florida and another woman in MI, health officials say.

23, the Ingham County Health Department said the woman, who was not identified, contracted Zika while traveling to Barbados, an island in the Caribbean where the virus is circulating.

After learning that three pregnant women have been infected with the virus, Florida Gov. Rick Scott has requested 250 additional Zika antibody tests for the state, which has a total of 32 reported Zika cases.

The virus is typically spread to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito: the Aedes aegypti, which is not native to MI.

Scientists still believe that mosquitoes are the main means of transmission for the virus, which has spread explosively throughout the Americas in recent months and is suspected of being linked to serious birth defects and a rare autoimmune disease.

According to the CDC website, local transmission means that mosquitoes in the area have been infected with Zika virus, spreading it to people. The symptoms are relatively mild and can last several days up to a week.

The Zika virus has now been found in semen, blood, urine, and saliva. They include rash, fever and joint pain. “We must provide answers for anxious moms-to-be and families who may experience signs and symptoms or may simply have travel history to endemic areas”. Due to the possible association between Zika virus infections in pregnant women and certain birth defects, CDC encourages following the interim guidance it issued on February 5 to prevent sexual transmission of Zika virus.

The CDC is advising men who have recently been to a Zika outbreak area to use a condom when they have sex with a pregnant women, or to abstain from sex during the pregnancy.

There has been one confirmed case of Zika in Trinidad.

“In all events for which information is available, travelers were men and reported symptom onset was within two weeks before the non-traveling female partner’s symptoms began”, the CDC report said.

Meanwhile, the head of the World Health Organisation expressed confidence on Tuesday that Brazil can host the Rio Olympics safely despite the Zika threat, while warning of a long battle against the mosquito-borne virus.