The teams of researchers from the two Houston, Texas hospitals, the Houston Methodist Hospital and Texas Children’s Hospital, that created the nucleic acid amplification test to detect Zika virus, can reportedly provide accurate results within just a few hours.
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The Atlanta-based CDC made the announcement Tuesday and said all of the 14 cases are women whose only known risk factor is sexual contact with a male partner who had recently traveled to an area with local Zika transmissions. The test can determine the presence of Zika in blood, amniotic fluid or spinal fluid by identifying virus-specific RNA sequences in the samples.
Although sexual transmission of Zika virus infection is possible, mosquito bites remain the primary way that Zika virus is transmitted, the CDC noted. But in Brazil, health officials have reported an apparent link between Zika infection and a rare birth defect.
Before this test was developed, physicians faced the possibility of long delays of testing in local and state public health laboratories and the Centers for Disease Control.
President Barack Obama on Monday sent lawmakers an official $1.9 billion request to combat the spread of the Zika virus in Latin America and the U.S. People who do have symptoms have reported fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes.
Washington Post reports that preliminary laboratory tests have confirmed the infection in four other women; however, they are awaiting final confirmation.
She said several studies are planned that will look into this, but until that information is available, it is safer for women to protect themselves during pregnancy.
The test is able to distinguish Zika from other prevalent mosquito-contracted viruses, including dengue, West Nile and Chikungunya.
Eight other cases are still under investigation.
The agency also has suggested that women who are pregnant or plan to become pregnant should avoid travelling to Zika-affected areas. The CDC on Tuesday expanded its Zika travel advisory to two more places – the Marshall Islands, and Trinidad and Tobago. It is mainly spread by mosquito bites. There are no commercial tests that make testing for Zika as simply as diagnosing HIV, for example.
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The CDC recommends that all travelers use insect repellent while in Zika outbreak areas, and continue to use it for three weeks after travel in case they might be infected but not sick. With the advent of warmer weather in the U.S.in the spring and summer, outbreaks of Zika virus are expected to occur in some southern states.
