The D.C. Department of Health has created a Zika virus fact sheet for District residents so they can stay informed on safety and prevention measures.
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Dallas County Health and Human Services Director Zachary Thompson confirmed Thursday that four additional individuals were being tested for the Zika virus, following Dallas County’s first two cases of the mosquito-borne virus being discovered Tuesday.
The guidance also said the men might consider abstaining or using condoms even during sex with a woman who isn’t pregnant. The virus has been reported in the United States from people who have traveled overseas, and there’s been one reported case in the nation of the virus being spread sexually. In this case, a man returning from Venezuela infected his female partner with the virus through intercourse.
The people most seriously affected are pregnant women and their fetuses. “When people go anywhere they want to know that they’re safe, so what they know when they come to Florida is that we’re going to get ahead of this”.
Being bitten by a mosquito may not be the only way to contract the Zika virus.
Pregnant women without symptoms of Zika infection can be offered testing two to 12 weeks after coming home from Zika-affected areas.
On Friday, the CDC issued new recommendations to those who have traveled to Zika-prone areas: Use condoms during sex or don’t have sex. “There’s been a total of three cases in the world literature of Zika being present in male secretions”.
The Zika virus usually results in mild symptoms, including fever, rash and fatigue that resolve in approximately one week.
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A man spread the virus to another man, according to a source close to the public health investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to release the information. However it has been confirmed to spread by mosquitos, sexual transmission and, according to Brazilian Health officials, blood transfusions.
