The virus was deemed active, meaning it was able to cause infection, although the scientists said it was too early to determine whether Zika could be transmitted by saliva or urine.
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“Presence of virus in saliva doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily transmissible that way”.
“This is not a generalized public health measure, for the love of God”, he added.
But there are things that people can do to lower their risk of contracting the virus, including rigorously protecting against mosquito bites, which are the usual mode of Zika transmission, and following the new guidelines to prevent sexual transmission, Frieden said.
“We’re not aware of any mosquito disease associated with such a potential devastating birth outcome on a scale anything like what appears to be occurring with Zika in Brazil”, Frieden said.
The CDC also said that women who aren’t pregnant, but who are concerned about contracting the virus through sex could consider using condoms during sex or abstaining if their partner has traveled to an area with Zika cases.
Abranches said she could not provide more details on what the changes might look like or comment on whether Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff would enact the decree. The illness, while generally not life-threatening, has been linked to the birth defect microcephaly, which causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads. “I understand that this is a stressful situation for women and families and particularly for women who are pregnant and what we are doing in our efforts is prioritizing all of the work we can do to protect pregnant women”, he said.
Federal health officials say the Texas patient represents the first case during this outbreak in which the Zika virus was transmitted to a non-traveler in the continental United States.
“So that also shows that many of these pregnancies are out of their control and countries obviously have to take that into account”, she said.
At this time there is no risk of acquiring Zika virus in Rockland County, Ruppert emphasized. The scientists also said that there could be certain enzymes present in the saliva that would make it impossible for the virus to spread.
To date, the mosquito-borne virus has spread to more than 20 countries in the Americas. In another case, Zika was found in semen at least two weeks and possibly up to 10 weeks after a man had Zika virus infection.
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The National Conference of Bishops in Brazil, the South American country hardest hit by Zika, had no immediate comment on calls to loosen abortion laws.
