Health officials over in Dallas say that is in fact how this specific case was spread.
Advertisement
It holds little danger for most people but has been linked to a surge in cases of microcephaly, a condition which causes babies to develop abnormally small heads, leading to permanent disability or death.
Most people with the Zika virus don’t show symptoms, making it relatively hard to detect and easy to spread.
The first case of the fever in Puerto Rico manifested itself earlier this week in a pregnant woman and a man, who subsequently developed Guillain-Barre syndrome, known to cause temporary paralysis.
Tim O’Connor, spokesman for Palm Beach County’s health department, said his office has received just a few calls from residents concerned about Zika.
Meanwhile a pregnant woman is among the seven people identified as being infected with the Zika virus in Spain after visiting affected countries.
One of the three cases is a pregnant woman, according to the reports; all had traveled either to Central or South America.
Brazil has the most Zika infections with more than one million, and Colombia has more than 20,000, the World Health Organization said.
Speaking in Tampa Thursday alongside Dr. John Armstrong, the state’s surgeon general, Scott sought to assure people that Florida is safe.
In Brazil, donated blood is not yet tested for Zika virus. Florida Governor Rick Scott updated the public on the Zika virus Thursday asking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide testing kits to our state.
As the mosquito-born Zika outbreak becomes a growing concern internationally the FDA is considering new blood donation guidelines.
All but one of the confirmed Zika cases in Texas and the United States have been acquired by travelers to Latin America or the Caribbean where the disease is spreading.
So far in Europe, all those diagnosed with the disease caught it while traveling overseas, and none of them were pregnant – until now.
“The Zika infection is only transmitted via Aedes mosquitoes and not by human-to-human contact, except possibly, very rarely, by sexual means”, Dr Weeramanthri said.
Advertisement
The CDC says couples who are considering using condoms or abstaining from sex out of precaution should consider a few factors, including the fact that the virus is usually mild and when symptoms occur they can last several days to about a week.
