Federal health officials have issued guidelines for preventing sexual transmission of Zika virus, advising men who may have been exposed to the virus and have a pregnant partner to practice safe sex or abstain until their baby is born.
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Speaking at a Friday morning news conference, CDC director Dr Tom Frieden also said the agency is investigating Brazilian research that detected Zika virus in patients’ saliva and urine.
US health experts cautioned Friday that the apparent discovery of the Zika virus in saliva and urine from people in Brazil does not necessarily mean the virus can be spread by more casual contact with infected people, such as through kissing.
The researchers tested 12 babies with microcephaly and, in their spinal fluid, found antibodies that the human body makes to fight viruses such as Zika, said Pena, who led the study. If he is showing symptoms, Public Health England says, his partner should avoid pregnancy for six months after his recovery.
While the Zika epidemic first surfaced in Brazil last spring, Zika virus has since spread to 30 countries and territories in South and Central America and the Caribbean.
The virus has been linked with microcephaly, with thousands of cases found in Brazil since the outbreak began.
Aedes mosquitoes, which transmit the virus, are extremely unlikely to be able to survive and breed in the United Kingdom due to its lower temperature. “Because how can they ask those women not to become pregnant, but also not offer them first information that is available, but the possibility to stop their pregnancies if they wish?”
Florida’s history of fighting off mosquito-borne outbreaks puts the state in perhaps better position than most when it comes to the Zika virus.
Yet the relationship between Zika and microcephaly is not confirmed and is an urgent matter of inquiry for scientists at some of the world’s top medical labs.
Franca said “it’s just a matter of time” before all Brazilian blood transfusions can be tested for Zika.
Although sexual transmission of Zika virus is possible, mosquito bites remain the primary way it is transmitted, the CDC said.
At Least 54 People Infected in the U.S..
Brazil has more than 4,000 cases and the country is warning women to postpone pregnancy.
Florida Governor Rick Scott updated the public on the Zika virus Thursday asking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide testing kits to our state.
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Frieden emphasized that the primary way Zika spreads is by mosquito bites.
