More Cases Of Sexually Transmitted Zika In The US

And women who are pregnant and whose sex partners have been to affected areas should abstain from sex or use a condom throughout their entire pregnancy, just to be safe, she said.

Four cases had preliminary test results, but were awaiting confirmation.

McQuiston said while these recommendations would also protect women who are not pregnant, the reason for CDC’s concern is the “increasing evidence” linking Zika infections to birth defects.

Several of the cases involve pregnant women, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Febr.

The CDC issued interim guidelines concerning sexual transmission of the virus on February 5, and it re-emphasized these guidelines in a health advisory notice on Tuesday. There have been two reported cases, including a recent one in Texas, and at least two other reports of the Zika virus found in semen.

Most experts had believed that sexual transmission of the illness was rare, but the new alert suggests sexual transmission of Zika may be more of a factor than previously thought.

The health sector will continue to strengthen the supervision at ports of entry of passengers from countries and territories with the Zika virus, the General Department of Preventive Medicine (GDPM) under the Ministry of Health announced yesterday.

US and Brazilian health workers seeking to determine if the Zika virus is causing a surge in birth defects ran into the chaotic reality of northeastern Brazil on their study’s first day Tuesday. They also note the microcephaly spike appears to be largely restricted to Brazil, with few cases reported in other countries with Zika outbreaks, such as neighboring Colombia.

The CDC said there is still no evidence the Zika virus can be transmitted from person to person through casual contact.

Schuchat said that in each of the current cases under investigation, the man had displayed symptoms of Zika, such as fever, rash or joint pain – a notable fact, given that as many as 80 percent of people infected with Zika never experience symptoms.

The latest 14 cases all involve men who had travelled to Zika-affected areas, and whose female sexual partners later fell ill with Zika-like symptoms – even though they hadn’t travelled to outbreak areas themselves.

Mosquito bites remain the primary way the virus is spread, although sexual transmission is possible, the agency added. Research is now underway to answer this question as soon as possible.

“As doctors become more aware of the sexual transmission risk, they will begin to test more”, she says, “and they will likely begin to find more”.