The World Health Organization has declared the Zika virus an global public health emergency, saying the virus is “spreading explosively” and that up to 4 million people in the Americas could be infected by the end of this year. Health officials there reported that a patient had been infected through having sex with someone who had recently returned from Venezuela, one of the countries with a Zika outbreak. The virus has been linked to microcephaly- a condition that causes babies to be born with unusually small heads and, in vast majority of cases, damaged brains.
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Because only one in five people have symptoms of the virus, tests try to detect those antibodies to determine exposure.
Asked during a conference call with reporters how likely it might be that Zika could spread through saliva and urine, Frieden said “we just have no data to inform that”.
Health officials do know that the majority of Zika cases are transmitted by mosquitoes and that’s where they plan to focus their efforts.
If that transmission cycle starts-human to mosquito, to human-doctors say it’s nearly impossible to get the virus out of the population.
The aedes mosquito has been identified as the carrier of the Zika virus.
Officials previously recommended pregnant women postpone trips to more than two dozen countries with Zika outbreaks, mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Pregnant women who have traveled internationally and are concerned that they are showing symptoms of the virus, according to Williams, can have their blood sent to the CDC be tested for Zika virus for free.
Frieden also said that he was aware of reports from Brazil that found traces of the virus in saliva and urine samples from infected patients. I wish we could do more about Zika today.
“We’re not aware of any other mosquito-borne disease with such devastating outcomes” of birth defects, Frieden said.
“Using an insect repellent is one of the best ways you can protect yourself from Zika”, Savage said.
The CDC urged couples in which a partner is not pregnant to “consider using condoms consistently and correctly during sex or abstaining from sexual activity”.
In the meantime, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to warn that the Zika virus is spread through mosquito bites.
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Paulo Gadelha says that the virus’s ability to infect other people through the two body fluids requires further study.
