Additionally, the CDC is advising pregnant women to use barrier contraception or abstain from sex if their partners, either male or female, were in an area with ongoing Zika transmission.
Advertisement
The North Dakota Department of Health has identified two cases of Zika Virus in the state. Brazil is expected to have the largest number of infections – by more than threefold – due to its size and favorable conditions for transmission of the virus.
However, “it is hard to accurately predict how many child-bearing women may be at risk from Zika, because a large proportion of cases show no symptoms”, Andrew Tatem, a geographer at the University of Southampton in England, pointed out in a university news release.
USA health officials on Monday updated their Zika virus guidelines, saying that pregnant women could contract Zika from a sex partner of either gender. They found shorter pregnancy delays may increase the exposure of fetuses to Zika since pregnancies would cluster near the peak of the outbreak.
The mother contracted the Zika virus while traveling earlier this year to South America. Meanwhile, Gov. Rick Scott has asked for assistance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, The Miami Herald reported.
Zika has been proven to cause microcephaly, a birth defect marked by small head size that can lead to serious developmental problems, and has been linked to other severe fetal brain abnormalities.
Brazil has been the epicenter of the Zika epidemic to this point. It is also possible for the virus to be transmitted through menstrual blood. The WHO has said there is strong scientific consensus that Zika can also cause Guillain-Barre, a rare neurological syndrome that causes temporary paralysis in adults. Only about 20 percent of patients notice symptoms.
Zika, transmitted by the aggressive Aedes aegypti mosquito, has spread to at least 65 countries and territories. It used to be that a pregnant patient or her sexual partner had to travel to an area in the current Zika danger zones and develop symptoms before the CDC would unequivocally recommend testing.
Advertisement
This Q&A will tell you what you need to know about Zika.
