Dallas County Health and Human Services said it received confirmation of the case from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Advertisement
A person in Texas has been infected with the Zika virus after having sex with an ill person who had returned from a country where the disease was present, Dallas County health officials said Tuesday.
Australian health officials issued a comprehensive warning to health professionals and travellers yesterday, saying that at least 21 countries and territories of Latin America and the Caribbean had reported outbreaks of Zika and that the virus had been spread in Samoa and Tonga, in the South Pacific.
This explosive outbreak has caught the world by surprise and many key questions remain unanswered.
“Pregnant women should consider postponing non-essential travel to countries where the Zika virus is endemic, as the implications of infection for the unborn child can be devastating”, he said.
The UN health agency warned last week that the virus was “spreading explosively” in the Americas, with up to 4 million cases expected in the region in 2016.
Two adults have been confirmed with the Zika virus in Ireland but are said to have fully recovered. Where travel could not be avoided, pregnant women should discuss the risks with a travel doctor to provide in-depth advice regarding the necessary precautions.
A small Australian maker of bug sprays became an unlikely beneficiary of the mosquito-borne Zika virus outbreak this week when the country’s Olympic team signed it up as its first official insect repellent sponsor.
A Zika vaccine could be ready for clinical trial by later this year, but Fauci warned that it will likely take years before the vaccine is ready for market.
Can Zika be transmitted through sexual contact?
People who get Zika virus disease typically have a mild fever, skin rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain and fatigue that can last for two to seven days.
The Zika virus is found in tropical locales with large mosquito populations.
Seventeen of those are being treated as linked to Zika. Can women also spread the virus through sex?
Two cases of possible person-to-person sexual transmission has been described, but the PAHO said more evidence is needed to confirm whether sexual contact is a means of Zika transmission.
Monday’s public health emergency declaration by the WHO can unleash action and research funding from governments and non-profits around the world.
However, Schuchat emphasized that the main health concern at this time is for pregnant women who are exposed to the virus.
Advertisement
Zika virus is transmitted to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito.
