More than 100 people in the US have been diagnosed with the Zika virus in the USA, according to state health departments.
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The CDC has also issued a health advisory notice to reiterate the importance of adhering to the February 5 guidelines for pregnant women and men with pregnant partners who have traveled to areas known to be infected with Zika. But sexual transmission of Zika has been reported in a few previous cases, and the virus has been found to persist in semen long after a man has recovered from the infection.
Maternity hospitals in Paraiba, the impoverished state that is one of the epicenters of Brazil’s tandem outbreaks of Zika and microcephaly, provided the CDC and its Brazilian partners with mothers’ addresses.
Health authorities in the United States said they were investigating 14 new reports of the Zika virus possibly being transmitted by sex, including to pregnant women.
In addition, the agency announced it is adding Trinidad and Tobago and the Marshall Islands to its list of countries to which it recommends pregnant women not travel.
Brazil is at the center of a Zika outbreak and the virus is strongly suspected of causing a spike in microcephaly, a congenital condition that causes abnormally small heads and hampers brain development.
The CDC isn’t sure how long the risk of sexually transmitted Zika lasts, but said they are looking into answering that question. Some women may want to avoid sex altogether to make certain they are not at risk, the agency said.
The British Fertility Society asked people who traveled to areas with Zika, mainly South America and the Caribbean, not to donate sperm for 28 days.
While the mosquito-borne virus causes only a mild illness that passes quickly, it can confer lifelong damage on a developing fetus. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Zika virus outbreak is likely to spread throughout almost all the Americas.
Although the virus is overwhelmingly transmitted by mosquitoes that pick up infected blood from one human and transfer the virus to another, cases of sexually transmitted Zika have been documented in the past.
For more on Zika virus, and where the virus is endemic, head to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “However, we should still focus on Zika spreading through mosquitos”. Two cases have been confirmed to be Zika virus, and preliminary laboratory evidence suggests that four others may be, but confirmation is pending.
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The CDC said there is still no evidence the Zika virus can be transmitted from person to person through casual contact.
