The Zika virus is mainly transmitted through the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which also carries dengue fever.
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Doctors suspect the Zika virus is linked to a rare neurological condition called microcephaly, which causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads.
Brazil, the country hardest hit by Zika, is grappling with the virus even as it prepares to host the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August.
The U.N. human rights office said the countries now urging women to hold off getting pregnant over Zika fears – a list that comprises Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador and Jamaica – had to offer them the possibility of controlling their fertility.
On Friday the agency recommended that any pregnant woman who has traveled to one of the affected countries be tested for the presence of the virus between two to 12 weeks of her return home. One woman had been in the Caribbean; the other was in South America.
“That is why we have teams on the ground now, heading out today, tomorrow and next week to different places to partner with countries around the continent so that we can learn more”, he said.
Llittle is known about the link between the virus and a birth defect called microcephaly – something that CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said is a priority for national and global research.
The CDC advises men with a pregnant partner to use condoms if they have traveled to an area with “active Zika virus transmission”.
The Zika virus usually remains in the blood of an infected person for about a week, but it can be found longer in some people. Health officials over in Dallas say that is in fact how this specific case was spread.
In two additional cases, the virus was presumably transmitted to females through sexual activity.
The Zika virus was first identified in Uganda in 1947 and subsequently spread to parts of Asia. “I understand that this is a stressful situation for women and families, and particularly for women who are pregnant”.
While officials say mosquitoes could spread the virus in the USA, they are optimistic there will not be widespread transmission because of several factors, most notably good mosquito-control efforts.
USA health officials issued guidelines Friday to prevent the sexual transmission of the Zika virus, telling men who have been to outbreak areas to use condoms during sex with pregnant women.
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Obstetricians have said that since 80 percent of those infected by the virus show no symptoms, it leaves many pregnant women no way of knowing early enough to make an informed choice about their unborn child. “When people go anywhere they want to know that they’re safe, so what they know when they come to Florida is that we’re going to get ahead of this”.
