As virus spreads, Texas reports sexually transmitted case
Health officials in Dallas, Texas have announced the first case of sexually-transmitted Zika virus.
The Centers for Disease Control will soon release new guidelines on preventing sexual transmission of the disease, which is normally mosquito-borne, focusing on male sexual partners of women who are or who may be pregnant, as Zika has been linked to increased birth defects.
The virus, which has been linked to birth defects in the Americas, is primarily spread through mosquito bites, but investigators had been exploring the possibility it could be sexually transmitted. There was a report of a Colorado researcher who picked up the virus in Africa and apparently spread it to his wife back home in 2008, and it was found in one man’s semen in Tahiti.
The CDC says it will issue guidance in the coming days on prevention of sexual transmission of Zika virus, focusing on the male sexual partners of women who are or may be pregnant. The CDC has already recommended pregnant women postpone trips to more than two dozen countries with Zika outbreaks, mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Venezuela. It also said other visitors should use insect repellent and take other precautions to prevent mosquito bites.
Zika was first identified in 1947 in Uganda. It wasn’t believed to cause any serious effects until last year; about 80 percent of infected people never experience symptoms.
The most common symptoms are fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes. The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting several days to a week. Symptoms usually start two days to a week after being bitten by an infected mosquito.
