Similarly, Japanese researchers studying boars infected with a virus in the same family as Zika isolated virus from the urine and semen of boars that was capable of infecting a female through artificial insemination. Canadian Blood Services says it is implementing the waiting period to mitigate the risk of the Zika virus entering the Canadian blood supply.
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It is not the first known case of sexual transmission in the US.
The move comes a day after health officials in Texas announced that a Zika patient in Dallas acquired the virus through sexual contact – raising fresh fears about the disease, which has been linked to birth defects.
Video: What Is The Zika Virus?
UNICEF is asking for $9 million for its programs in the Americas to curb the spread of Zika virus and lessen its impact on babies and their families across the region.
This must include “community engagement in eliminating breeding sites and planning for insecticide spraying and the killing of the larvae”.
Emirates said in a statement Tuesday there is “no impact on operations” for flights from its Dubai base to three South American cities: Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in Brazil, and Buenos Aires, Argentina. The CDC has issued travel warnings for those areas, particularly for women who are pregnant or are considering becoming pregnant.
The CDC recommends that pregnant women avoid travel to more than two dozen countries with Zika outbreaks, mostly in the Caribbean and Latin America, including Venezuela. The person infected did not travel to the South American country, county health officials said. Many health organisations have therefore advised pregnant women, or women who are trying to get pregnant, against travel to areas affected by the virus.
The World Health Organization declared a global health emergency on February 1, citing a “strongly suspected” relationship between Zika infection in pregnancy and microcephaly, a condition marked by abnormally small head size that can cause permanent brain damage in newborns.
WHO’s Europe Director Zsuzsanna Jakab urged countries to act in a co-ordinated way to control the mosquitoes, inform people about the risks, keep a check on cases, step up research to understand the disease and develop vaccines.
There is no treatment or vaccine for Zika, which is in the same family of viruses as dengue.
“Mosquitoes would be the great river of transmission, while sexual transmission is going to be akin to a mountain stream”, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University.
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“We have to ensure Florida is prepared and stays ahead of the spread of the Zika virus in our state”, Gov. Rick Scott said in a news release.
