But, on Tuesday the Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that a patient in North Texas had acquired the Zika virus through a sexual transmission.
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KXAS spoke with Dallas County health officials who say the virus was transmitted through sexual contact, not through a mosquito bite.
The center said to avoid exposure to semen of anyone who has traveled to an affected country, and wearing a condom is the best method of preventing sexually transmitted diseases.
Officials said people can avoid the Zika virus by protecting against mosquito bites and avoiding sexual contact with those infected.
The most common symptoms of Zika virus are fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes, according to Dallas County public health officials. Officials say doctors should ask pregnant women about their travel and certain symptoms, and, if warranted, test them for an infection with the Zika virus.
Back in 2008 there was a similar situation, but it was never confirmed like the Dallas case.
Is there a vaccine to treat Zika?
“Education and awareness is crucial in preventing Zika virus”, said Dr. Christopher Perkins, DCHHS medical director/health authority.
“It is a mosquito transmitted illness, or virus, similar to West Nile, or yellow fever”, explained Adrienne Byrne-Lutz, Director of the Sedgwick Health Department.
“Currently, outbreaks of Zika virus are occurring in some countries in South and Central America, the Caribbean and the Pacific Islands”, the HSE said in a statement. It is found in the southern United States, though no mosquito-borne transmission has been reported in the continental United States to date. They stressed that there was no risk to a developing fetus in this instance. He only developed symptoms after his return home; a few days later his wife became ill.
MARIANA BAZO/REUTERS A health technician analyzes a blood sample from a patient bitten by a mosquito at the National Institute of Health in Lima, Peru. During Brazil’s 2015 Zika virus outbreak, incidences of microcephaly, a condition where babies are born with small heads and abnormally deformed brains, increased.
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Yesterday, the virus was declared by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to be an worldwide public health emergency, having been reported in numerous locations around the globe of late.
