The World Health Organisation has declared an global emergency over the virus (AP) Three-month-old Daniel, who was born with microcephaly, undergoes physical therapy at the Altino Ventura foundation in Recife, Brazil.
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Zika had been thought to be spread by the bite of mosquitoes of the Aedes genus, so sexual contact as a mode of transmission would be a potentially alarming development.
Only one case of possible person-to-person sexual transmission has been described according to the Pan American Health Organization.
You can read WHO’s prevention recommendations on their website here.
A person in Dallas appears to have spread the Zika virus to another person through sex, Texas health officials said today.
Ireland said on Tuesday that the first two confirmed cases of the Zika virus in the country are now being investigated by its Health Service Executive (HSE).
“Houston is a gateway to Central and South America and because of this, we have a unique role and interest in confronting threats like the Zika virus”, he said in a prepared statement.
Authorities said there were no reports of the virus being locally transmitted by mosquitoes.
There are now no reports of the Zika virus being spread via mosquito bites in Dallas or elsewhere in the U.S.
The CDC advised pregnant women and women who trying to become pregnant to take the following precautions until “more is known” about the virus.
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Pregnant women have been a group particularly advised to stay away from mosquitoes with Zika causing microcephaly, or a shrinking of the brain, in infants. There is now no vaccine. The CDC says the disease is usually mild, and those disease and those who do get sick show symptoms-fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes-for up to a week. All of the reported cases are travel-related, health officials said.
