Sexually transferred Zika Virus reported in USA

Sexually transferred Zika Virus reported in USA

A distinctive case of the Zika virus being transferred through sex, not a mosquito bite, has been reported in the USA.

A sufferer infected in Dallas, Texas, is likely to have been diseased by sexual contact, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) informed the BBC.

The individual had not travelled to infected places but their partner had come back from Venezuela.

Zika is carried by mosquitoes and has been connected to various newly born babies with underdeveloped brains.

It is prevailing through the Americas and the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced the disease connected to the virus a global public health emergency.

The American Red Cross has meanwhile emphasized prospective blood donors coming back from Zika-hit countries to wait nearly twenty-eight days before donating their blood.

The “self-deferral” should implement to persons coming back from Mexico, the Caribbean or Central or South America during the past 4 weeks, the Red Cross stated in a statement.


2 cases of the Zika virus have been confirmed in the country of Australia. Officials stated that the 2 Sydney residents had recently came back from the Caribbean.

Zika has also been discovered in 2 unrelated situations in the Republic of Ireland, authorities there stated. A man and an older lady, who have both recovered, had a history of travelling to a Zika-affected country.

Meanwhile, Brazil – the country worst hit by the virus – has disclosed it is inquiring 3,670 suspected cases of microcephaly in babies connected to the Zika virus.

If Zika can instantly spread through sex, then it poses a threat to every country not merely those with the Aedes mosquito.

So far, officials have claimed sexual transmission is less, but previous year they would have stated any case of Zika was less, too.

This bombastic outbreak has caught the world by shock and many significant queries remain unanswered.

Exactly how common or less is sexual transmission? Can it be prevailed by the 80% of persons who indicate no symptoms? How long does the virus persist in semen? When is it secure to have sex again?

What should males do after visiting affected countries? Can ladies also prevail the virus through sex?

Although, this is not a recent HIV/Aids moment. HIV infection is incurable and immediately shortens lives without regular medication.

Zika infections are short, mild and pose a primary danger merely in pregnancy.

The ministry also stated that 76 infant deaths from microcephaly, either during the time of pregnancy or merely after birth, were suspected.

Texas has observed 7 other Zika cases all linked to foreign travel.

But Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director for CDC, claimed that this was the 1st case it had addressed with including a “non-traveller”.

“We do not consider this was spread through mosquito bites, but we do consider it was spread through a sexual link.”

A statement released by the CDC stated that the best way to ignore Zika virus infection was “to stop mosquito bites and to ignore exposure to semen from someone who has been infected to Zika”.

The case is “important” if it was surely transmitted through sexual contact, Alaka Basu, a senior fellow for public health at the UN Foundation, reported the BBC.

“This importance is parallel with the HIV/Aids case. It is worse in few ways, because there are 2 modes of transmission.”

It is not the 1st known case of sexual transmission in the USA. A doctor from Colorado coming back from the country Africa in the year 2008 is thought to have passed on the virus to his wife. There was a case in the year 2013 in French Polynesia, in accordance to the CDC website.

The CDC suggests that pregnant women ignore travel to more than 2 dozen countries with Zika outbreaks, mostly in the Caribbean and Latin America, involving Venezuela.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff stated that her government was compelled on eliminating the mosquito that transfers the virus.

In an address to a joint session of Congress, she claimed considerable funds would be set aside for the programme.

“We should all be worried about microcephaly,” she stated.

The alert released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the day of Monday puts Zika in the similar category of uncertainty as Ebola.

It means study and aid will be fast-tracked to tackle the infection.

WHO director general, Margaret Chan stated that the priorities were to secure pregnant women and their babies from harm and to eradicate the mosquitoes that are flourishing the virus.

WHO has claimed that it could take up to 9 months for experts to prove or disprove any link between the virus and babies born with microcephaly.



Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here