In Brazil, pregnant women urged to be cautious with a kiss

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.

He also stressed that the Aedes aegpyti mosquito, which spreads dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever as well as Zika, remains the virus’ main vector and said the fight against the mosquito should be a top priority.

About 1.5 million patients infected by the virus have been reported in Brazil, where 404 cases of microcephaly have been confirmed and 3,670 suspected cases are being examined.

It cites three cases of infected males showing symptoms who transmitted the virus.

Presently, there are no vaccines and treatments available for the virus. Scientists are researching reports earlier this week that an American had transmitted the virus to a sexual partner in Dallas County, Texas. Unemployed and five months pregnant, 21-year-old Lourenco lives in a slum at the epicenter of Brazils tandem Zika and microcephaly outbreaks, the state of Pernambuco.

In the first direct statements from government health officials blaming Zika for causing deaths, Colombia’s National Health Institute (INS) said the patients died after contracting the virus and developing a rare neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome.

“So much of it right now is unknown and beyond our control, that we’re all kind of in it together, going through for it”, Garcia said.

Rapidly mounting public health concerns about the spread of Zika virus have physicians debating whether the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil should be canceled.

The announcement was made yesterday by Paulo Gavel, president of Brazil’s world-renowned public health research institution Ossa Crud Foundation (Fisc).

“How can they … not offer (women) … the possibility to stop their pregnancies if they wish?” she said.

“There have been no locally-acquired cases of Zika virus in Florida”, the release said.

The World Health Organization has reported 267 Zika outbreaks in countries in the Americas.

In the USA territory of Puerto Rico, officials declared a health emergency over Zika and confirmed a pregnant woman had been infected, bringing the number of cases on the island to 22.

“The science is not clear on how long the risk should be avoided”, the CDC admitted in its warning on sexual activity.

Zika, it’s important to point out, causes relatively mild symptoms, and for most people it’s nothing to worry about.