“Because of the possible association between Zika virus infections in pregnant women and certain birth defects, CDC recommends that pregnant women consider postponing travel to any area where Zika virus transmission is ongoing”, ODH’s website states.
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Melanie Amato, a public information officer for the Ohio Department of Health, said in an email that questions about the virus, which is transmitted through mosquito bites, can be answered with the ODH’s Zika web page, which states, “The primary mosquito that transmits Zika virus is Aedes aegypti, the yellow fever mosquito”.
Director General Margaret Chan said on Tuesday Brazil is doing a good job tackling the Zika virus and ensuring that the Olympic games it will host in August will be safe for athletes and visitors. Another study in Tahiti confirmed the presence of Zika in a man’s sperm.
Despite Tuesday’s rocky start, the CDC’s Harrist said the generosity and openness of the two young mothers her team managed to contact gave her hope.
The latest 14 cases all involve men who had travelled to Zika-affected areas, and whose female sexual partners later fell ill with Zika-like symptoms – even though they hadn’t travelled to outbreak areas themselves.
Still, from the virus’ perspective, it would take a lot of fortuitous occurrences for a man to pass it to a sexual partner: He would have to get infected with the virus first; he’d have to be sexually active; and he’d have to have sex with someone before his body cleared the virus.
The CDC has issued a Health Alert Network (HAN) Advisory because these 14 cases show sexual transmission may be a more likely means of transmission for Zika virus than previously considered. “Testing for the male partners is still pending”.
What is the Zika virus?
“We have learnt lessons from dengue and from chikungunya outbreaks in the past, so we should expect to see more cases, we should expect this is going to be a long journey”.
In a recent study, British researchers reported evidence of Zika in the semen of a 68-year-old as long as 62 days after he was infected.
“We are not changing the guidance today but we are really reinforcing it”, said Anne Schuchat from the CDC. It is unknown how long the risk should be avoided.
Eight teams of “disease detectives” are looking to enroll about 100 mothers of babies with microcephaly, a rare defect that causes newborns to have unusually small heads and damaged brains.
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Illness with the virus is usually mild and short-lived, but it’s the possible connections to a neurological condition called Guillain-Barre syndrome and to a congenital condition known as microcephaly that are worrisome. “However, we should still focus on Zika spreading through mosquitos”.
