US Zika case sparks questions about sex and mosquito germs

But the Health Department says pregnant women should take special care after babies were born in Brazil with extremely small heads, possibly related to their mothers being infected with the Zika virus.

Hartl called the Texas case only the second worldwide linked to sexual transmission, referring to media reports about a case of an American man who returned from Senegal in 2008 and is suspected of having infected his wife. The patient, identified as Patient 1, is the first known case of the virus being transmitted in the United States.

In Brazil, health officials are operating under the assumption that there is a linkage between Zika virus and the increase in cases of microcephaly-up from 150 reported cases of microcephaly in 2014 to almost 4,000 cases of the birth defect since October 2015. Now, those same officials are asking people in the Americas and elsewhere to practice safe sex lest they – and their unborn children – contract the disease. Within years, the virus had spread to humans in Uganda and Tanzania, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

But the CDC has endorsed the sexual transmission theory, a possibility that raises new concerns about the potential for rapid spread of a virus that until last May had been virtually unheard-of in the Americas.

Monge estimates that the agency, which organizes trips and tours throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, has lost about 20 percent of its business as news of Zika has increased.

Gov. Rick Scott declared a health emergency in four counties Wednesday after at least nine cases of the mosquito-borne Zika illness were detected in Florida.

Before this case, the World Health Organization acknowledged one case of possible Zika virus transmitted through sex but noted the need for more medical research before reaching a definite conclusion.

The WHO recommends such a response “to improve surveillance, the detection of infections, congenital malformations and neurological complications; to intensify the control of mosquito populations; and to expedite the development of diagnostic tests and vaccines to protect people at risk, especially during pregnancy”.

The mosquito-borne Zika Virus has been transmitted through sexual contact in Texas, according to officials.

That was heard in the Legislative Council yesterday with the health secretary being grilled on issues such as why no travel alert has been raised against Zika epicenter Brazil.

“Zika remains a disease primarily spread through mosquito bites (which warrants protection against getting bitten)”. Canadian Blood Services says it is implementing the waiting period to mitigate the risk of the Zika virus entering the Canadian blood supply. It has been blamed for brain damage – microcephaly – in newborns.

While Thompson told the television station that the case of sexual transmission is “a game-changer, ” he added that he didn’t want people in Dallas County to overreact.

The ministry underscored its longstanding recommendation of condom use to prevent sexually transmitted diseases. It is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which also spreads dengue fever, among other diseases. Symptoms to watch for include a fever, joint and muscle pain, rashes, conjunctivitis and headaches.

Carissa Etienne made the comments Wednesday in Uruguay while attending an emergency meeting of health ministers from Latin America.

One study found signs of the virus in the saliva of patients shortly after the onset of symptoms.