NY has become the first large metropolitan area to report the transmission of the Zika virus from a woman to her male partner.
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A woman in her twenties told officials that she had unprotected vaginal sex with a male partner the day she returned home from travel to a country with high risk of Zika transmission.
On day seven after intercourse, her male partner, also in his 20s, began to show the same typical signs of Zika, such as fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes, despite the fact that he had not traveled outside the United States for more than a year.
The New York case is the first in which a man was infected by a woman, and it raises the prospect that other men – with no travel history to Zika-affected areas and no reason to suspect that they might have the virus – could become infected and pass the virus on, creating a new chain of transmission. “Although no cases of woman-to-woman Zika transmission have been reported, these recommendations now also apply to female sex partners of pregnant women”. The CDC has recommended that men who have been in areas with a Zika outbreak abstain from sex for eight weeks to six months after returning, but as of now makes no similar recommendations to women.
Previous studies and reports have suggested that the Zika virus can remain in vaginal fluids while not showing presence in urine or blood tests. Up until now, the only likely route of sexual transmission found was male-to-female or male-to-male.
Nearly a week later, the male partner developed similar symptoms, including fever, rash, and also conjunctivitis. Blood and urine samples were collected from the man, who tested positive for the virus in his urine.
Studies have already shown that Zika remains in both urine and saliva long after it resolves in the blood, even though the likelihood of transmission via that route is considered extremely low. The ability of the disease to be transmitted via sexual contact may give it momentum to spread outside of tropical areas to places like the United States. The woman was also becoming ill – with a lot of Zika virus in her system – right at the time she had sex.
Women of child-bearing age who live in an active Zika region should protect themselves from mosquito bites by wearing long-sleeved shirts and long trousers, using mosquito repellent when outside, and staying indoors as much as possible, according to the CDC.
CDC’s current guidance to prevent sexual transmission is based on the assumption that any spread occurs from a man to his partners. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Friday in yet another startling Zika development.
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The Zika virus has spread to almost 50 countries, primarily in South America and the Caribbean.
