Those concerned about Zika infections after possible sexual exposure are advised to only seek testing once symptoms consistent with the disease are observed. Previous information known to medical experts was that sexual transmission of the Zika virus can only be from male to females as it stays in the semen, possibly for months.
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The virus is spread by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Latin America, which are not native to Switzerland. However, there is evidence that traces of the Zika virus can be found in the blood and urine of pregnant women beyond one week.
Lewnard also said these estimates are based on a worst case scenario that assumes visitors will be as vulnerable to Zika as residents of Brazil. They also advise pregnant women with possible Zika exposure, but no symptoms, to get tested as well.
According to NBC News, the federal health officials have cautioned people against all kinds of unprotected sex and said that any kind of sexual contact can spread the virus.
The new update follows news last week of the first recorded female-to-male transmission of the virus during sex. As of today, Florida Health reports 315 travel-related Zika cases and 49 infections in pregnant women.
Wyoming will receive $143,000 to “fight the Zika virus”, though the state’s department of health doesn’t expect it will have much to combat stateside.
It added that officials in Miami-Dade and Broward counties-where the suspected cases were reported-are reviewing the methodology and that training is under way. Where symptoms don’t manifest, test results show that the virus is still present in semen 39 days after a man has departed from an affected area and may have transmitted the virus to a partner.
There have been more than 1,400 confirmed Zika cases in the United States, but so far all of them have been contracted through travel overseas – either by a mosquito bite or by sexual intercourse with someone who had traveled to a Zika-infected area.
But the virus also has been linked to a rare paralyzing condition called Guillain-Barre syndrome.
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If you or your partner live in or travel to an area with Zika, use condoms or other barriers*, the right way, every time you have sex or do not have sex throughout the pregnancy.
