Sexually transmitted Zika case confirmed in Texas

Officials in Texas have reported the first case of Zika contracted in the USA mainland, and said that the virus was sexually transmitted.

The newly infected individual had sex with a person who had acquired Zika virus while traveling outside of the US, it said.

There is no vaccine, and woman who are or who could be pregnant have been advised reconsider their plans to travel to affected areas – including Latin America, Cape Verde, Samoa and Tonga – or if this is not possible, to be scrupulous in protecting themselves against mosquito bites.

Both people in Ireland had travelled to a Zika-affected country and neither is at risk of pregnancy, the HSE said. In a tweet, Dallas health officials said the first person infected had been to Venezuela, but did not detail when and where that person or the second person was diagnosed. Outbreaks of Zika virus disease have been recorded in Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific.

“The most important thing from my perspective is to see if we can get Zika virus diagnostics improved”.

The United Nations (UN) health body said that a rise in cases of microcephaly – in which babies are born with an abnormally small head – was likely caused by the mosquito-borne virus, and declared the situation a “public health emergency of worldwide concern”.

A statement issued by the CDC said the best way to avoid Zika virus infection was “to prevent mosquito bites AND to avoid exposure to semen from someone who has been exposed to Zika”.

Meanwhile, Brazil – the country worst hit by the outbreak – has revealed it is investigating 3,670 suspected cases of microcephaly in babies linked to the Zika virus. “We are sure this battle can be won and will not affect the Games”.

Government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo says four women have tested positive for the virus in the Central American nation, including two who are three and one-half and four months pregnant.

The finding of Zika cases in Ireland is not an unexpected event as many other European countries have reported cases as a result of travel to affected areas.

Professor Peter Horby, a professor of tropical medicine and infectious diseases at Oxford University, said that the report of sexual transmission was “not entirely unexpected, but it is certainly unwelcome”.

Dr Ben Neuman, a virologist and associate professor at the University of Reading, was confident the threat posed by the virus would reduce significantly by Games time and that the risk to spectators would be low. Health workers say aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, like ibuprofen and naproxen, should not be taken.