It cautions that “men who reside in or have traveled to an area of active Zika virus transmission who are concerned about sexual transmission of Zika virus might consider abstaining from sexual activity or using condoms consistently and correctly during sex”.
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And it’s not confirmed that Zika causes birth defects, despite increased incidents in infants alongside rising Zika infections in Brazil.
The Health Ministry says in a statement that the woman traveled to Colombia, was presumably infected during the trip and is in her second trimester of pregnancy. Because the virus is spread by mosquitoes, Fulbright says don’t panic.
An infectious disease researcher at Vanderbilt University, William Schaffner said, “The important thing is now to determine whether the virus in saliva and urine can transmit the virus to others”.
On Monday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the issue of microcephaly – which may be linked to Zika – a public health emergency of worldwide concern.
He urged pregnant women to take special precautions, stressing both the seriousness of the discovery and the reality that it was too soon to say how it could impact on the epidemic.
He said tests on fetal brain tissue have showed the presence of the virus, but it’s unclear at what point in a pregnancy a fetus can be infected with Zika.
Meanwhile, in Geneva, spokeswoman Cecile Pouilly said the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights was asking governments in Zika-affected countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to repeal any policies that restrict access to sexual and reproductive health services, including abortion. And no pregnant woman should travel to any of the affected countries while she is pregnant.
There is no treatment or vaccine for Zika.
The U.S. government has temporarily lowered its count of Zika cases because of a new reporting system.
Pregnant women will be first to receive them.
People who get Zika virus disease typically have a mild fever, skin rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain and fatigue that can last for two to seven days.
To date, the mosquito-borne virus has spread to more than 20 countries in the Americas.
Earlier this week, the USA state of Texas reported the country’s first locally transmitted case of Zika virus, in which the patient was infected after having sexual contact with an ill individual who returned from a country where Zika virus is present.
“I wish we knew more about Zika today, I wish we could do more about Zika today”, said CDC Directer Tom Frieden in a morning press conference.
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Doctors suspect the Zika virus is linked to a rare neurological condition called microcephaly, which causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads.
