First case of Zika virus reported on First Coast

The CDC said men who have traveled to areas vulnerable to Zika should use a condom during sexual activity – and that pregnant women should insist on a condom or abstain from sex altogether when involved with a person who has traveled to such regions.

The CDC also said that women who aren’t pregnant, but who are concerned about contracting the virus through sex could consider using condoms during sex or abstaining if their partner has traveled to an area with Zika cases.

Paulo Gadelha suggested pregnant women avoid kissing people other than a regular partner or sharing cutlery, glasses and plates with people who have symptoms of the virus. The best way, overall, to avoid Zika is to prevent mosquito bites by wearing long sleeves and long trousers, use insect repellents, and if you’re in a country where Zika virus has been found, stay in places with air conditioning, and window and door screens.

Officials previously recommended pregnant women postpone trips to more than two dozen countries with Zika outbreaks, mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Fiocruz team studied samples from two patients who showed symptoms of Zika and tested positive for the illness. The CDC still is reviewing data on whether the virus can be transmitted through saliva and urine and is not making a recommendation related to those fluids at this time, according to Dr. Frieden. The American Red Cross on Wednesday asked potential blood donors who have traveled to areas where Zika infection is active to wait 28 days before giving blood.

Officials in Rockland County have confirmed their first case of the Zika virus.

There is no treatment or vaccine for Zika.

Scientists have begun to study whether Zika infection in pregnancy can cause microcephaly. The virus, which can be transmitted sexually, is suspected of being linked to a devastating birth defect called microcephaly in the babies of women infected early in pregnancy.

Although sexual transmission of Zika virus is possible, mosquito bites remain the primary way it is transmitted, the CDC said. The other was the confirmation of Zika in the semen of a man in Tahiti.

“We don’t know a lot about Zika”, Laurie Garrett, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, said in a conference call on Friday.

Brazil’s top research institute meanwhile said Zika, which is typically transmitted by mosquitoes, had been detected in urine and saliva, and warned that even kissing could pose a risk.