There are no documented cases where a woman has transmitted the virus to a man; the Zika virus is transmitted from human to human via semen. It also causes bad pregnancy outcomes, like miscarriage and stillbirth, and can cause serious neurologic problems as well. The host of the 2016 Olympics has reported nearly 100,000 cases of zika virus and the virus can be transmitted by men to their sexual partners.That makes it different from other mosquito-borne illnesses like dengue fever and chikungunya.
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State Public Health Veterinarian Catherine Brown told 22News that while Zika is a source of concern, there are other, more prevalent diseases to worry about in western MA. According to one report, 12,000 pregnant women in Colombia are affected by the virus.
The first case in the Lehigh Valley was reported in February after Lehigh University said one of its students had contracted the virus overseas over the winter break.
There is now no threat of Zika infection from mosquitoes in the area, local Mosquito experts say.
Zika virus infection in pregnant women is a cause of microcephaly and other severe fetal brain defects.
Counties of pregnant women not disclosed.
Male partners of pregnant women should consider the possibility that they could infect their partners via sex if they become infected.
As a precaution, the Cincinnati Health Department recommended that travelers returning to the USA from an area with Zika should try to prevent mosquito bites for up to three weeks even if they do not feel sick.
Everyone should take precautions to prevent mosquito bites to avoid infection with Zika virus, and to prevent further spread of the virus.
Typically, symptoms are mild and include fever, rash, joint soreness and/or redness of eyes. The person tested positive for the virus and is assumed to have contracted it after traveling to a part of the world where Zika-carrying mosquitoes are known to exist.
There has been local transmission of the disease in Puerto Rico but otherwise Zika is not known to have spread in the US yet. There are two previous cases imported from Puerto Rico, and one case each from the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, St. Lucia and St. Martin.
Nearly all were people who had traveled to Zika outbreak countries and caught the virus there.
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Thus far, Zika does not appear to have gained a foothold in the United States.
