US authorities investigating new potential cases of sexually transmitted Zika
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 24 February, 2016, 3:39pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 24 February, 2016, 3:39pm
The Washington Post
A microscope image provided by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention shows the Zika virus. Photo: AP
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday that it is investigating 14 new reports of potential sexual transmission of the Zika virus in the United States. Several of the cases involve pregnant women.
In at least two of the cases, a Zika infection was confirmed in women whose only known risk factor was sexual contact with an ill male partner who had recently returned from one of the nearly three dozen countries where the virus has now spread.
Four other women have tested positive for Zika in preliminary lab tests but are awaiting final confirmation. The CDC said eight other cases remain under investigation.
Officials said the same scenario played out in most, if not all, of the suspected cases: A man who had travelled to a Zika-affected area returned the US and had sex with a female partner, who soon began to display symptoms consistent with Zika.
The agency did not identify the states where these cases are being investigated.
“Like previously reported cases of sexual transmission, these cases involve possible transmission of the virus from men to their sex partners,” the CDC wrote in announcing the new cases. “At this time, there is no evidence that women can transmit Zika virus to their sex partners; however, more research is needed to understand this issue.”
A health worker draws blood from three-month-old child born with microcephaly, in Joao Pessoa, Brazil. Doctors are still trying to determine whether the Zika virus is really causing a surge in birth defects. Photo: AP
Scientists still believe that mosquitoes are the main means of transmission for the virus, which has spread explosively throughout the Americas in recent months and is suspected of being linked to serious birth defects and a rare autoimmune disease. Prior to February, only one case of sexual transmission had been documented.
But earlier this month, Dallas health officials reported that a local resident had been infected with the Zika virus by having sex with a person who had contracted the disease while travelling in Venezuela. The additional cases, if confirmed, would suggest that sexual transmission is far more possible than once thought and would further complicate public health officials’ efforts to stop the virus.
The Dallas case marked the first report of local transmission in the US.
Both the CDC and the World Health Organisation have issued guidelines urging the use of condoms to prevent the spread of the virus, particularly when a woman is pregnant or might become pregnant. Officials have also recommended couples consider abstaining from sex for the duration of a pregnancy if the male partner recently travelled to a Zika-affected country.
The CDC on Tuesday reiterated those recommendations, saying that “these new reports suggest sexual transmission may be a more likely means of transmission for Zika virus than previously considered”.
The agency also has suggested that women who are pregnant or plan to become pregnant should avoid travelling to Zika-affected areas.
