Prior to these 14 reported cases, a case of sexually transmitted Zika virus was reported in Dallas, Texas, prompting health officials to issue guidelines to stop Zika transmission through sexual contact.
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Several of the cases include pregnant women, which is worrisome considering Zika has been linked with a birth defect called microcephaly.
According to the CDC’s website, 82 reports of travel-associated Zika virus have been documented within the continental U.S.so far, but no cases of locally acquired Zika virus reports have been documented.
The CDC is advising men who have traveled to Zika-affected areas to abstain from sex or at least use a condom while their partner is pregnant.
Zika may be linked to the birth defect microcephaly which leaves newborns with abnormally small heads. Officials have also recommended couples consider abstaining from sex for the duration of a pregnancy if the male partner recently traveled to a Zika-affected country.
Zika is transmitted to people through the bite of infected female mosquitoes, primarily the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same type that spreads dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.
The public health body made the revelation as it published new guidance on sexual transmission of the virus.
Thus, 14 such reports, including pregnant women, will be looked into. “For the time being we are telling women to avoid sex or to be careful during sex with a partner who is coming back from an area where Zika is”.
So, how do you make sure you don’t get Zika or infect someone else – after all, 20% of cases are symptomless?
Gamma radiation will sterilize male mosquitoes to prevent the spread of the Zika virus in Brazil.
All involve men who had traveled to countries with active Zika transmission and who had become sick upon their return. Zika virus tends to persist for about a week in blood, but it’s unclear how long it persists in other bodily fluids like semen or saliva. Research is now underway to answer this question as soon as possible.
Tests have found evidence of Zika in saliva and urine as well.
“These recommendations might seem extreme to people, but the truth of the matter is we don’t yet have good scientific data to say how long the virus may persist in semen”, McQuiston said. “We are seeing more than we expected to see”.
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The rumors suggested that the outbreak of Zika in Brazil was caused by British biotechnology company Oxitec, which was conducting trials of a genetically modified mosquito in the country. “It can be really scary to have something new”. CDC added two more destinations to its caution list Tuesday: Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, and the Marshall Islands in the Pacific.
