AL Dept of Public Health advisory regarding the Zika virus

Travis County health officials on Thursday confirmed the first case of the Zika virus in the county.

Local health officials said yesterday both those people have fully recovered from the virus.

Zika is carried by mosquitoes, which transmit the virus to humans, while two cases in the United States suggest it may also be transmitted sexually.

Zika has been linked to thousands of babies being born with underdeveloped brains in Brazil.

Men who have traveled to areas where Zika virus is spreading should use protection during sex with a pregnant partner or abstain from sex for the duration of the pregnancy, federal health officials said Friday. Currently, there are 10 confirmed Zika cases in Texas including seven in Harris County, one in Bexar County and two in Dallas County. The real issue is the transmission in pregnant women, which can cause microcephaly in a baby. Pregnant women experiencing symptoms should be immediately tested, and those not, are recommended to when they begin prenatal care.

Yesterday the NHS said people who had travelled to countries affected by the Zika outbreak had been barred from giving blood for a month after they returned home. Researchers are still trying to figure out the connection but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that pregnant women postpone travel to those regions.

Meanwhile in Brazil, the nation’s top research institute said that Zika has been detected in urine and saliva, but added that there was no proof the virus could be transmitted through those fluids. The Aedes aegipty is the vector that transmits the Zika virus, and also dengue, yellow fever and chikungunya.

The mosquito-borne Zika virus has spread to 26 countries in South and Central America and the Caribbean. In addition, the risk of infection “depends on how long and how much a person has been exposed to infected mosquitoes, and the steps taken to prevent mosquito bites while in an affected area”.

Zika is spread by mosquitoes and in most people causes no more than mild illness.