The WHO and Brazilian health officials said legal issues were complicating the sharing of data, but Brazil’s health ministry has now said it has wrapped up Zika field work with a USA team and will be shipping two-thirds of the material gathered to the US.
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The Aedes egypti mosquito has now spread to 80 percent of Brazil.
CDC continues to work with other public health officials to monitor for ongoing Zika virus transmission. However, the World Health Organization declared Zika was a “public health emergency of worldwide concern” because it has been linked to severe birth abnormalities. “There will be continue to be many travelers with Zika coming back to the U.S and many could be pregnant”.
The virus has spread to more than 30 countries since the outbreak began in northeastern Brazil past year, according to the WHO.
Although this case confirms it’s possible to spread the Zika virus through sex, CDC officials say mosquito bites are the primary way the virus is transmitted.
“But that does not mean there is a capacity for transmission through saliva and urine”.
The UNFPA said there is no vaccine or any specific treatment for the Zika virus infection till date.
The agency also has a fact sheet on Zika, explaining that one in five people infected with the virus show symptoms. They are being advised to abstain from sexual relations or use condoms if the male partner has been to a place where the Zika virus is transmitting.
The areas affected by Zika are mostly in South and Central America, as well as Thailand, Fiji and the Maldives, among others. On Friday, Brazilian scientists announced they had found active virus in saliva and urine samples from people infected with Zika.
Frieden offered his strongest comments yet about the link between the insect-borne virus and the birth defect, microcephaly, which causes babies to be born with unusually small heads and cognitive problems.
“Pregnant women should consider avoiding travel to countries with the Zika virus – or if travel is unavoidable, they ought to seek travel health advice from their GP or a travel clinic well in advance of their trip”.
If you have any questions or if you suspect any cases of the Zika virus, you can contact the Office of Epidemiology and Research at 735-7298.
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For women who aren’t pregnant and men with sex partners who are not pregnant but who live in or have traveled to regions with Zika transmission, the agency says precautions can also be taken.
