Sexual transmission of Zika virus has increasingly been reported, and CDC has also said men who travel to countries affected by Zika should use protection if having sex with a partner who is or may become pregnant.
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As of Friday, the CDC had reported 258 Zika infections in 34 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, all contracted outside the U.S. Of the U.S. cases, 18 are in pregnant women and 6 were sexually transmitted.
The World Health Organization in February declared a public health emergency as a result of the Zika virus.
This follows a March 11 advisory recommending pregnant women and those planning pregnancy to avoid travel to countries that have ongoing Zika virus outbreaks. “For the people who live here in New Mexico the risk for Zika, exposure and infection, are for those who travel to these areas”, said Dr. Arguello.
Brazil said on Friday the number of confirmed and suspected cases of microcephaly in Brazil associated with the Zika virus has risen to 5,131 from 4,976 a week earlier.
Three Alabama residents have already been infected with the virus.
“Even if Zika virus arrives in the United States”, they wrote, “transmission can be mitigated and reduced through the use of vector control strategies”.
The legislation, if approved, would add the Zika virus to the Food and Drug Administration’s Tropical Disease Priority Review Voucher Program. The Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is spreading the virus in much of Latin America and the Caribbean, will start moving more and more to the north as the weather warms up. About 80 percent of those infected with the virus do not show any symptoms, the CDC says.
The 60-year-old patient traveled to an area affected by the mosquito-borne illness, which has been linked to serious birth defects in South America, officials said.
Its common symptoms include fever, rash, joint pain and bloodshot eyes.
There’s been mounting evidence linking Zika infection in pregnant women to a rare birth defect called microcephaly, in which a newborn’s head is smaller than normal and the brain may not have developed properly.
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“Zika is a minimal risk to New Mexicans at this time, unless they’re traveling to affected countries”, Landen said. The test will not be available in US hospitals or other primary care settings.
