In February, the CDC confirmed the virus had been transmitted to the sexual partner of an individual in Texas who had traveled to a Zika infected area – a first for this outbreak but not a first in and of itself. “With these new suspected cases that we’re investigating, we’re really becoming aware that sexual transmission might happen more often than previously thought”, she said.
Advertisement
On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced it’s investigating 14 new cases of Zika virus in the us that may have been transmitted by sex. Four other women have initially tested positive for the virus and are awaiting further results, and eight women are under investigation.
For pregnant women, the CDC recommended that if a male partner has traveled to an area of active Zika transmission that couples use a condom correctly and consistently for the duration of the pregnancy, or that they abstain from sex entirely.
It also added three locations – Trinidad, Tobago and the Marshall Islands – to its list of travel notices in relation to the virus. In 2014, the World Health Organization [WHO] declared Ebola a public health emergency. If confirmed, the unexpectedly high number would have major implications for controlling the virus, which is usually spread by mosquito bites.
With no cure or vaccine available for Zika, which has spread to more than 30 countries, mostly in the Americas, the only way to contain the virus is to reduce the mosquito population. During an outbreak of Zika from 2013-14 in French Polynesia, national health authorities reported an unusual increase in Guillain-Barre syndrome. An estimated 4 out of 5 people infected never have symptoms; when symptoms occur they may last from several days to one week.
The CDC launched a study of the Zika virus’s correlation to a condition called microcephaly, which causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads, in Brazil this week. The mosquito transmits the Zika virus and is being studied at the institute.
They also don’t know how commonly Zika is spread this way as compared with mosquito bites, though they think it’s relatively rare. “Research is now underway to answer this question as soon as possible”, the CDC said. As best researchers can tell, the virus clears itself from the body pretty quickly, remaining in the blood for only about a week after infection.
Mosquito-borne Zika outbreaks have erupted across most of Latin America and the Caribbean in the past year.
Advertisement
In most people, the illness causes only mild flu-like symptoms. This includes any history of Zika-like infection.
