The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday that they are investigating 14 new reports of sexually-transmittted cases – a surprising and worrisome number for researchers who previously thought sexual transmission to be extremely rare.
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In a statement, the CDC said they are looking into the newly reported cases that were possibly transmitted by sexual contact.
Zika virus is primarily transmitted through a mosquito bite, and there is no indication that it can spread from person to person through casual contact.
As the virus spreads rapidly through Central and South America, Mexico and the Caribbean, public health officials in the United States and overseas have scrambled to learn more about the long-term effects and transmission of Zika.
The World Health Organization and the CDC have recommended that pregnant women consult with their doctors before traveling to places with outbreaks of Zika and should consider delaying their travel.
In most people, Zika causes mild or no symptoms – fever, joint pain, rash and red eyes – that last about a week.
Pregnant woman are the most at risk for complications from the virus, as there have been reports of serious birth defects in women who were infected during pregnancy.
“Now that all these birth defects and associated conditions have come out, Zika is turning into a game-changer”, said Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec, an assistant professor in Emory University’s Department of Environmental Sciences. Brazil is in the midst of a Zika outbreak and authorities say they have also detected a spike in cases of microcephaly in newborn children, but the link between Zika and microcephaly is as yet unproven.
All of the newly reported cases of sexual transmission have occurred within the United States. The most current travel information regarding Zika may be found on the CDC’s website.
Some members of the senate committee questioned whether states and the federal government were devoting enough resources to combating Zika and other infectious diseases. There is no vaccine to prevent or medicine to treat Zika. A news release says all three cases are believed to be travel-related. In that instance, a Texas man who had recently returned from Venezuela, passed the virus to his female partner. According to the state, only about one out of five people infected with Zika are symptomatic.
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“It’s a huge amount of work, but a powerful study would be one lasting a year or more that enlists a cohort of mums-to-be months before becoming pregnant and intensively monitors them until the delivery of their baby”, said MacKay.
