Health officials announced Tuesday that they are investigating 14 new USA cases of possible sexual transmission of the Zika virus. “At this time, there is no evidence that women can transmit Zika virus to their sex partners; however, more research is needed to understand this issue”.
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Four more women have tested positive for Zika in preliminary tests but are still waiting for tests to confirm they have Zika.
In both cases the male partner had recently traveled to an area where the Zika virus is present, the agency said.
In addition to those guidelines, the CDC issued a Health Advisory Notice, to underscore the importance of following those guidelines.
US officials are investigating more than a dozen new reports of sexually transmitted cases.
Gamma radiation will sterilize male mosquitoes to prevent the spread of the Zika virus in Brazil.
Testing of the male partners is still pending, it added.
While the disease is not known to have harmful impacts on adults, it has been linked to hundreds, and possibly thousands, of birth defects born to infected women in Central and Latin American countries. They also don’t know how commonly Zika is spread this way as compared with mosquito bites, though they think it’s relatively rare. Two cases have been reported of men passing on the virus to their partners.
Zika virus causes – at worst – only mild symptom in most people.
For that reason, men with a pregnant partner who have traveled to a Zika area should be rigorous in their use of a condom during sex – or abstain from sex entirely, the CDC says. But Tuesday’s announcement suggested that sexual transmission of Zika – normally a mosquito-borne virus – may be more of a risk…
Much remains unknown about Zika, including whether the virus actually causes microcephaly.
Particles of Zika virus are colored red in this transmission electron micrograph.
In Tahiti, the authorities say that – like in other French overseas territories – they have for decades used deltamethrin to fight mosquitoes and not pyriproxyfen as in South America.
Zika has caused outbreaks in at least 29 countries in the Americas.
She said several studies are planned that will look into this, but until that information is available, it is safer for women to protect themselves during pregnancy. Researchers aren’t sure how long Zika can remain in semen, when people are most at risk of passing on the virus, or what types of sex acts are more likely to spread the virus.
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The CDC recommends that all travelers use insect repellent while in Zika outbreak areas, and continue to use it for three weeks after travel in case they might be infected but not sick.
