Some countries in the region have advised women to delay pregnancy, and the CDC advises pregnant women to delay travel to those areas where Zika is spreading. All are believed to be contracted by someone traveling outside of Florida. The government has declared a health emergency in four counties, including Miami. But there is growing alarm over an apparent link between the current outbreak and both a rise in birth defects and a potentially crippling neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome. “Through these experiences, the department remains ready to protect residents and visitors from the Zika virus”. “We are not expecting mosquito transmission in the USA”, said Dr. Mohammed Ali, infectious disease physician, Meritus Medical Center.
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“In another case, Zika virus was found in semen about two weeks after a man had symptoms with Zika virus infection, so that sort of gives you the biologic plausibility of spread”, Schuchat added. “We always looked at the point that this could be transmitted sexually”.
In a statement to CNN, the CDC said it would soon provide new guidelines for preventing Zika virus that focus on male sexual partners of women who could become pregnant. Outbreaks of the virus have been reported in Africa, southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, and Central and South America.
However, the latest information from the USA suggests that Zika could pose a threat to people in parts of the world where it is not being spread by mosquito bites. “This is obviously something the CDC is looking extensively at including the health departments in the countries that are having more problems with the infection rate, but it is something we need to look out for now as other data comes out”. It has been linked in Latin America to thousands of babies being born with microcephaly – a condition in which infants are born with, or develop in infancy, small, underdeveloped brains. This is not the first time, when Zika Virus has been linked to sexual transmission.
Pregnant women are the most at risk when it comes to the Zika virus, as the most adverse symptoms present in babies.
Video: What Is The Zika Virus? They include a rash, joint pain, conjunctivitis and a slight fever.
“It’s very rare, but this is not new”, agency Director Zachary Thompson told WFAA-TV in Dallas.
The mosquito-borne Zika Virus has been transmitted through sexual contact in Texas, according to officials.
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Reporter Abe Aboraya is part of WMFE in Orlando.
