Zika virus spreading through sex

A new alert from the CDC was released to serve as a “strong reminder” to the public the Zika virus can be be transmitted sexually and might “a more likely means of transmission for Zika virus than previously considered”, the CDC said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that it is investigating 14 new reports of possible sexual transmission of Zika virus in the USA, and that several of the cases involve pregnant women. These cases show the virus was possibly transmitted through sex from a man to his sexual partner.

Cases of active Zika transmission have been reported in 28 countries and territories in the Americas and Caribbean, with 1.5 million in Brazil, the hardest-hit country.

There is now no cure against the Zika virus and large-scale trials of vaccines in development are still at least 18 months away.

In four other cases, preliminary tests indicate women were infected but confirmatory tests are pending.

The virus is already strongly suspected to be linked to microcephaly – a birth defect that causes babies to be born with abnormally small brains and skulls.

The agency said there’s no evidence that women can spread the virus to their sex partners, but more research is needed.

In most people, the illness causes only mild flu-like symptoms.

While testing is ongoing in these cases, the CDC has admitted that the virus might be transmitted sexually more often than originally thought, and has advised women to either avoid sex or use condoms diligently with men who have recently returned from Zika-affected areas until more information comes to light.

Research is also underway into a possible link between Zika infection and a paralyzing condition in adults called Guillain-Barre syndrome.

“The CDC still feels that mosquito-borne transmission is the most common route for Zika”, says McQuiston.

Currently, researchers think that the main way that people become infected with Zika virus is from the bite of an infected Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same species that transmits dengue fever and chikungunya disease, according to the CDC. To get Zika from a mosquito, it just takes one bite from the wrong bug. But they don’t expect to see major outbreaks. ODH’s Zika page suggests covering up with long-sleeved shirts and trousers, staying in places with window and door screens to keep mosquitoes outside, using a mosquito bed net and wearing Environmental Protection Agency-registered insect repellents.