South American health ministers held an emergency meeting on slowing the spread of the Zika virus, dubbed a “nightmare” by hard-hit Brazil, where it is blamed for brain damage in babies.
Advertisement
Researchers also are investigating a possible link between Zika infection and Guillain-Barre syndrome, a condition that involves temporary paralysis.
With the Zika virus having arrived in the United States, federal health officials on Friday outlined recommendations to prevent infected people from spreading the virus through sexual contact.
Mr Hilton said the World Health Organization had not banned travel because of Zika, though pregnant women have been advised not to travel to Zika areas. They include an unidentified woman who is pregnant.
Zika virus is transmitted to humans through the bites of infectious Aedes mosquitoes, most commonly Aedes aegypti, the same species that transmits dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever viruses in tropical countries.
“Men who either live in or travel to active Zika transmission area and who have a pregnant sex partner should either correctly use condoms during sex or abstain from sex during the rest of the pregnancy”, urged Frieden.
Much about the virus, including whether it can be transmitted from person to person, remains unclear. Pregnant women experiencing symptoms should be immediately tested, and those not, are recommended to when they begin prenatal care.
The new interim guidelines from the US Centers from Disease Control are aimed at pregnant women and their partners, and at people of childbearing age who are concerned about Zika, a primarily mosquito-borne virus which has been linked to birth defects. Still, sexual transmission of Zika virus is thought to be rare; there are just three known reported cases of the virus spreading through sex. 5, 2016, US health officials said men who have been to a Zika outbreak region should use condoms if they have sex with a pregnant woman – for the entire duration of the pregnancy. After infection, Zika virus might persist in semen when it is no longer detectable in blood.
Advertisement
It did not release the woman’s name, but said she was one of seven confirmed Zika cases in the country.
