The UN health agency reacted on Wednesday after local health authorities in Dallas, Texas, announced the first US-based known case of Zika virus transmission, which has possibly spread via sexual intercourse and not a mosquito bite.
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The Department of Public Health cautions travelers, especially pregnant woman, planning to travel to countries or areas where Zika outbreaks are active.
It also stressed that “the diagnosed cases of Zika virus in Spain… don’t risk spreading the virus in our country as they are imported cases”.
Florida has at least nine cases – all patients infected overseas.
Health leaders said the chance of an outbreak here is low because the United States has much better mosquito control and that limits the spread of disease. The DCHHS said it received confirmation of the infection from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday.
The American Red Cross is asking people who have visited Latin America or the Caribbean in the past 28 days to not donate blood.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists also advised any pregnant women in the United Kingdom who test positive for Zika to get additional scans. But mounting evidence in Brazil has suggested a connection between the virus and babies born with brain defects and abnormally small heads.
If contracted, Zika is a relatively mild disease. “So far there are no reports of pregnant women infected through sex so we just don’t know”, Pavia says.
Rick Scott isn’t taking any chances with the Zika virus.
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.
The Health Ministry said in a statement that the woman had travelled to Colombia and was presumably infected during her trip.
About one in five people infected with the virus become ill. Medical workers have been screening people showing symptoms of the virus and alerting health officials of anyone who traveled recently to South America. Signs and symptoms of Zika fever may include a low-grade fever, rash, joint pain, reddening of the eyes, body aches, headache, eye pain, and vomiting.
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“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.
