Most infected people won’t even know they had the virus, but that’s also part of the problem of tracking its spread. In 2015, that all changed.
Advertisement
The insects do present the greatest potential for Zika transmission, according to both the WHO and the CDC, and American health officials are bracing for small clusters of local transmission because the mosquitoes that carry Zika-mainly A. aegypti-live in the U.S. But quarantines would be unlikely to help prevent such outbreaks.
There are two known cases of the Zika virus being transmitted sexually in the U.S. One of the cases was in Texas, Levent said. (Find NPR’s ongoing coverage here.) Check back, as we’re regularly updating this list.
Rep. Curt Clawson, a Republican from Florida’s Gulf Coast, expressed concern that despite widespread publicity in recent weeks about Zika, not enough is being done to combat the virus.
Infection with the Zika virus causes only mild symptoms in the majority of the cases, but an apparent link to birth defects and other pregnancy-related poor outcomes has been associated with infection during pregnancy. For this reason, many people might not realize they have been infected.
Brazil has warned pregnant women not to travel there but Games organizers have said by the time the Olympics start, the main mosquito season will be over and they don’t expect the illness to affect the sporting extravaganza. There have been no reports of New Yorkers diagnosed with the illness who had not traveled to countries where the disease is spreading.
The Zika virus, which spreads through a certain type of mosquito, moved quickly through Latin America before showing up in the United States. The Alabama Department of Health advises all pregnant women with a history of travel to affected areas to be evaluated. “Based on experience with other viruses like dengue and chickungunya that are transmitted by the same mosquito vectors and have reached the US after large scale epidemics expanded globally, the risk for ongoing transmission or large outbreaks in the U.S.is thought to be low”, says Duchin. “If they do have sexual intercourse they should make sure to use condoms and to not have sex with someone who is pregnant”. Zika virus disease has historically occurred in Africa, Southeast Asia and islands in the Pacific Ocean.
Rattay said officials are examining two cases outside of DE of men who passed the virus on to their female partners.
Advertisement
The request includes investments to support affected countries’ ability to control mosquitoes and the transmission of the virus; support maternal health; expand public education on prevention and response; and create new incentives for the development of vaccines and diagnostics.
