Women near the Zika outbreak shouldn’t get pregnant, says WHO

The risk assessment assumes that European Aedes-mosquitoes have the same potential to spread the Zika virus as their South-, Middle-and North American counterparts.

Also the state has monitored 38 cases in which pregnant women showed symptoms of Zika or met a definition of having the virus, according to the Florida Department of Health website.

Last month, US health officials reported that the number of pregnant women in the United States infected with the Zika virus had tripled because cases were now being counted in a more comprehensive way.

The WHO declared the virus a public health emergency of worldwide concern in February.

A fifth case of Zika has been reported in Tarrant County, health officials say.

Over 5.4 million births occurred in 2015 in such areas.

“In order to prevent adverse pregnancy and fetal outcomes, men and women of reproductive age, living in areas where local transmission of Zika virus is known to occur, be correctly informed and oriented to consider delaying pregnancy”, the World Health Organization advisory read. He said using contraception to avoid spreading the virus could be considered morally acceptable.

In the United States, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has refrained from recommending that couples delay pregnancy in Zika-affected areas, although Puerto Rico’s Health Secretary has issued advice that is similar to the new WHO guideline, The New York Times reported.

The researchers found that the risk of mosquito-borne transmission of Zika virus is estimated to peak between June and August in parts of Southern Europe.

The first case of sexual transmission took place in 2008 when a man returning from Senegal infected his wife in the US.

To reduce the chance of virus transmission, the Pittsburgh researcher is using insect repellent to avoid mosquito bites, besides wearing garments with long sleeves and pants, ABC News added.