Gov. Rick Scott Thursday asked the CDC for 1,000 Zika antibody tests so the state can test individuals, especially pregnant women and new mothers, who have traveled to affected regions and show symptoms of the virus. As for men with partners who are not pregnant, they should “consider” abstinence or condom use if they visit or live in a Zika-affected country.
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But U.S. health officials detected a case of sexual transmission of the disease in Texas this week and in Brazil, officials said they had confirmed the virus was contracted via blood transfusions.
The CDC isn’t sure how long the risk of sexually transmitted Zika lasts, but said they are looking into answering that question.
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.
The virus has so far spread to 26 countries in South and Central America and the Caribbean, and authorities have warned it could infect up to four million people on the continent and spread worldwide.
The victims in Colombia died of complications after being infected with Zika and then developing a rare neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome.
Apart from condoms and abstinence, Frieden said the best way to protect against the disease is to avoid mosquito bites. Frieden said Friday that one US case of Guillain-Barré may be linked to Zika.
Zika normally causes mild flu-like symptoms and a rash, or goes unnoticed altogether.
Scientists at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, a Brazil federal government biomedical research institution, said they used genetic testing to identify the virus in samples from two patients while they had symptoms and were known to have Zika. It recommended that pregnant women and their male partners should discuss any potential exposure by the male to Zika, or a history of Zika-like illness, with their doctor.
The CDC still is reviewing data on whether the virus can be transmitted through saliva and urine and is not making a recommendation related to those fluids at this time, according to Dr. Frieden. Still, sexual transmission of Zika virus is thought to be rare; there are just three known reported cases of the virus spreading through sex.
Queensland Health public health physician Dr Andrew Langley said the fact the Coast had only a handful of dengue cases a year also indicated that the capacity for a local Zika outbreak was limited.
Myrna Bonaldo, who headed the Fiocruz team behind the discovery, said she was particularly surprised the virus was found in urine because Zika is generally thought not to thrive in acidic mediums. A second person who had not travelled but who had sexual contact with the first patient also developed Zika-like symptoms and tested positive for the virus.
Is there treatment for Zika virus?
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“So much of it right now is unknown and beyond our control, that we’re all kind of in it together, going through for it”, Garcia said.
