Brazilian researchers have found traces of the zika virus in the saliva and urine of patients with symptoms of the disease, which means the virus is potentially transmissible through those two means, China’s Xinhua news agency reported.
Advertisement
Pregnant women will be first to receive them. “Pregnant women and mothers with newborn babies who have visited affected countries should consult with their health care providers”.
In newly issued guidelines about sexual transmission of the disease. official said men who have traveled to Zika-infected countries should use condoms or abstain from sex for the duration of their partner’s pregnancy. In El Salvador, one of those warning against pregnancy, abortion is punishable by up to 40 years in prison.
He said tests on fetal brain tissue have showed the presence of the virus, but it’s unclear at what point in a pregnancy a fetus can be infected with Zika.
However, Zika probably will not spread explosively across the USA, because the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that carry the virus only live in very warm areas.
The Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department confirmed Austin’s first case of Zika virus Thursday evening.
“Control measures need to focus on the major source of Zika, which is still overwhelmingly mosquitoes”, said Ben Neuman, a virologist at Britain’s University of Reading.
Couples in which a man resides in or has traveled to an area of active Zika virus transmission who are concerned about sexual transmission of Zika virus may consider using condoms consistently and correctly during sex or abstaining from sexual activity.
Following word of the Texas case on Tuesday, U.S. health officials urged the use of condoms to prevent spreading sexually transmitted infections.
Much remains unknown about Zika, including whether the virus actually causes microcephaly.
Brazil’s government may decide to revise a law next week that restricts the country’s ability to send medical samples overseas, and does not clearly define protocol when a public health emergency, like Zika, is involved. The country’s National Health Institute director, Martha Lucia Ospina, said all three victims were confirmed to have been infected with Zika.
A mosquito-borne virus that’s been linked to birth defects is raising fears among some travelers to South America.
Advertisement
Zika is also blamed for an increase in cases of a potentially deadly neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome. The patient later died from his gunshot wounds and not the Zika infection, health officials and Carvalho said. Scientists do not yet fully understand whether Zika itself is causing the condition or how it might otherwise be associated with it.
