Zika May Not Spread In Saliva Or Urine, Health Officials Say

Until now, cases of Zika-linked microcephaly have been mainly in Brazil and in Hawaii, where a woman who had traveled to Brazil recently had a baby with the birth defect.

Reflecting concern over potential harm to fetuses, the CDC upgraded its guidelines on Friday for testing pregnant women who have traveled to affected areas, saying even those without symptoms should be tested after returning home. One person traveled to Venezuela, where Zika is spreading, and had sex with their partner.

Men with a pregnant sex partner who reside in or have traveled to an area of active Zika virus transmission should consistently and correctly use condoms during sexual activity or abstain from sexual activity for the duration of the pregnancy. “It is more information, but it does not necessarily mean that this is a source of contamination”, he said.

How long people are at risk is unclear, the CDC said, and researchers are trying to determine that now. This mosquito species also carries other viruses, including Dengue and Chikungunya.

Though presence of the Zika virus has been identified in 17 cases of babies with microcephaly, as the condition is known, there is no solid proof that the virus causes it. Babies with microcephaly have abnormally small heads and often have underdeveloped brains. The evidence on that, too, is mounting, but not yet conclusive, he said.

Some 80 percent of individuals won’t know they are infected and could pass Zika on to local mosquitoes, resulting in more local cases. “We have to wait for more scientific evidence”, said Cuitlahuac Ruiz, director of epidemiology at the Mexican health ministry.

Hey there, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, you doing all right?

Asked about sexual transmission to women who are not pregnant or to same-sex partners, Frieden pointed out that Zika is most often a mild illness in adults, though it has been linked to the paralytic syndrome Guillain-Barre. “Because this phenomenon is so new we are quite literally discovering more about it each and every day”.

And it’s not confirmed that Zika causes birth defects, despite increased incidents in infants alongside rising Zika infections in Brazil.

“We are not aware of any prior mosquito borne disease with this outcome of what seems to be occurring with Zika in Brazil”.

French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi earlier said it had begun researching a vaccine for Zika, for which there is now no specific treatment.

The discovery of the Zika virus in saliva has sparked disagreement among Brazilian scientists about whether pregnant women should be advised to avoid kissing anyone showing possible symptoms.

All 44 Senate Democrats and two independents sent Obama a letter urging him to use money from last year’s government-wide spending bill to come up with a comprehensive response plan to combat Zika, both overseas and in the U.S.

In the meantime, officials say all pregnant women returning from infected countries and anybody exhibiting symptoms will be tested by a state lab. Officials say Zika’s arrival in Rockland was never a question of if, but when.

Frieden said the United States should “expect a lot more travel-related cases” as the weeks and months go by.