The health agency did not make it clear how numerous cases involved pregnant women, but it did stress the importance for people who have traveled to countries with an ongoing Zika virus outbreak to abstain from having sex or at the very least use latex condoms throughout the pregnancy of their partner.
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State Surgeon General and Secretary of Health Dr. John Armstrong urges Floridians to drain standing water weekly, no matter how seemingly small.
The CDC researchers said the new cases suggest that sexual transmission of Zika may be more common than they had thought.
Queensland health authorities have started spraying mosquitoes around a Rockhampton hotel after a confirmed case of the imported Zika virus.
It also recommends that travelers to regions where there is ongoing transmission use insect repellent for three weeks after they return to the US, to keep from being bitten by domestic mosquitoes and possibly passing along the virus. Until more is known they advise pregnant women to avoid traveling to countries where the Zika virus is now circulating. There have been reports of a serious birth defects of the brain, called microcephaly, and other poor pregnancy outcomes in babies of mothers who were infected with Zika virus while pregnant.
According to the department of health, the primary mosquito that transmits Zika virus is found in the tropics and southern US, but it is not established in Ohio. In May of 2015, Brazil reported the first cases of Zika virus in the Americas.
“Now that all these birth defects and associated conditions have come out, Zika is turning into a game-changer”, said Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec, an assistant professor in Emory University’s Department of Environmental Sciences, CNN reported.
Officials didn’t say in which counties the women live. Many infected won’t experience symptoms at all.
Several of the cases involve pregnant women, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Tuesday.
For four additional suspected sexual transmission events, preliminary laboratory evidence is available for the women, but confirmatory tests are pending, it said. “People who have traveled to affected countries who I guess were bit by mosquitoes there”.
The link hasn’t been confirmed but the possibility has prompted health officials to take cautionary steps to protect fetuses from the virus.
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“These new reports suggest sexual transmission may be a more likely means of transmission for Zika virus than previously considered”.
