The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed the first male-to-male sexual transmission of the Zika virus in the U.S.
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Zika is often transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, the main type believed to be the main culprit in the spread of the virus.
A third case of Zika virus disease has been confirmed in Clark County, according to the Southern Nevada Health District.
Among the 15 counties identified as having had Zika virus infections, Miami-Dade has experienced the most, with 35 cases.
One of the reasons the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Zika virus a public health emergency of global concern on February 1, 2016 was that a causal relationship was “strongly suspected” and hence required worldwide efforts to investigate and understand it.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday that there is a definitive causal link between Zika and severe fetal brain defects.
Until Zika, “there has never been a mosquito-borne virus that could cause serious defects on a such a large scale”, said Tom Frieden, director of the CDC.
But US health officials said it does not mean all babies born to infected women will have problems.
Microcephaly is a rare condition in which an infant has an abnormally small brain and head.
Because of birth defects, the CDC recommends pregnant women and women trying to get pregnant postpone travel to Central America, the Caribbean and South America. It is the second documented case of Zika being sexually transmitted and the first documented case of a tranmission occurring between two men, the CDC reveals in their “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report“. The most common symptoms include fever, joint pain, rash or conjunctivitis (red eyes). To help stop the spread of Zika, travelers should use insect repellent for three weeks after travel to prevent mosquito bites. We are advising Vermonters who are planning to travel to check to see if their destination is a Zika-affected area, and to take all precautions against mosquito bites.
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Fernando Ruiz, the country’s deputy health minister, told a news conference that even more cases of Zika-linked microcephaly were expected between May and September.
