Health officials in Texas have confirmed the first case of Zika
virus transmission in the US, and are pointing to sexual
transmission as the culprit. The Dallas County Health and
Human Services said in a release that the patient engaged in
sexual contact with an infected individual who had recently
traveled to a country where the Zika virus is spreading.
The CDC tells Journalists that it has confirmed the patient is
infected with the Zika virus, but that the agency has not
confirmed the method of transmission. County officials say
there are no reports of the virus being locally transmitted by
mosquitoes .
While the CDC is not yet confirming sexual transmission, it is
warning people of the possibility. "Based on what we know
now, the best way to avoid Zika virus infection is to prevent
mosquito bites AND to avoid exposure to semen from
someone who has been exposed to Zika virus or has been ill
from Zika virus infection," the CDC says. "We do not have
definitive information on the infectious time period, and will
provide more guidance for individuals and clinicians as we
learn more."
This is not the first time that officials have identified a case of
sexual transmission of the Zika virus. The CDC identified a
similar case in 2013 during an outbreak in French Polynesia,
where the Zika virus was found in a patient's semen. The
CDC's subsequent study found evidence to support that the
Zika virus could be sexually transmitted.
The Zika virus can cause fevers, rashes, joint pain, and
conjunctivitis, but it only elicits symptoms in about 20 percent
of those infected. It is more commonly transmitted through
mosquito bites, but it can also be passed from a mother to
her child before the child is born. These transmission methods
are at the center of the current outbreak in Latin America,
which is spreading so fast that the World Health Organization
has declared it a " public health emergency." Health officials in
Brazil are worried that the spread is tied to a drastic increase
in reported cases of microcephaly, which causes abnormally
small head sizes in children and stunts development of the
brain.
The WHO estimates that, without any intervention, the Zika
virus could infect as many as 4 million people in the Americas
this year. Classifying the outbreak as a public health
emergency is a major step toward curbing the spread, though,
as it should trigger funding and resources for the countries
that need help to fight Zika.
