[danielsan]

A rare case of the Zika virus being transmitted through sex, not a mosquito bite, has been reported in the US.

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

The person had not travelled to infected areas but their partner had returned from Venezuela.

Zika is carried by mosquitoes and has been linked to thousands of babies being born with underdeveloped brains.

It is spreading through the Americas and the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the disease linked to the virus a global public health emergency.

The American Red Cross has meanwhile urged prospective blood donors returning from Zika-hit countries to wait at least 28 days before donating their blood.

The "self-deferral" should apply to people returning from Mexico, the Caribbean or Central or South America during the past four weeks, the Red Cross said in a statement.

Elsewhere:
◾Two cases of the Zika virus have been confirmed in Australia. Officials said the two Sydney residents had recently returned from the Caribbean.
◾Zika has also been found in two unrelated cases in the Republic of Ireland, officials there said. A man and an older woman, who have both recovered, had a history of travelling to a Zika-affected country.

Meanwhile, Brazil - the country worst hit by the outbreak - has revealed it is investigating 3,670 suspected cases of microcephaly in babies linked to the Zika virus.

A total of 404 cases have so far been confirmed - up from 270 last week - while 709 cases have been discarded, the country's health ministry said.

The ministry also said 76 infant deaths from microcephaly, either during pregnancy or just after birth, were suspected.

If Zika can readily spread through sex, then it poses a risk to every country not just those with the Aedes mosquito.

So far, authorities have said sexual transmission is rare, but last year they would have said any case of Zika was rare, too.

This explosive outbreak has caught the world by surprise and many key questions remain unanswered.

Exactly how common or rare is sexual transmission? Can it be spread by the 80% of people who show no symptoms? How long does the virus persist in semen? When is it safe to have sex again?

What should men do after visiting affected countries? Can women also spread the virus through sex?

However, this is not a new HIV/Aids moment. HIV infection is incurable and dramatically shortens lives without daily medication.

Zika infections are short, mild and pose a significant threat only in pregnancy.

But Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director for CDC, said this was the first case it had dealt with involving a "non-traveller".

"We don't believe this was spread through mosquito bites, but we do believe it was spread through a sexual contact."

A statement issued by the CDC said the best way to avoid Zika virus infection was "to prevent mosquito bites and to avoid exposure to semen from someone who has been exposed to Zika".

The case is "significant" if it was definitely transmitted through sexual contact, Alaka Basu, a senior fellow for public health at the UN Foundation, told the BBC.

"This significance is parallel with the HIV/Aids case. It's worse in some ways, because there are two modes of transmission."

It is not the first known case of sexual transmission in the US. A doctor from Colorado returning from Africa in 2008 is thought to have passed on the infection to his wife. There was a case in 2013 in French Polynesia, according to the CDC website.

The CDC recommends that pregnant women avoid travel to more than two dozen countries with Zika outbreaks, mostly in the Caribbean and Latin America, including Venezuela.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said her government was focused on eradicating the mosquito that transmits the virus.

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

"We should all be worried about microcephaly," she said.
The alert issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday puts Zika in the same category of concern as Ebola.

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

WHO director general, Margaret Chan said the priorities were to protect pregnant women and their babies from harm and to control the mosquitoes that are spreading the virus.

WHO has said it could take up to nine months for experts to prove or disprove any connection between the virus and babies born with microcephaly.

Source : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-35478778

[danielsan]

[kellyhound]

The number of newborns with abnormally small heads linked to the Zika virus in Brazil had increased to 4074 as of January 30 from 3718 a week earlier, the Brazilian Health Ministry says.

Of a total of 4783 notified cases of the severe neurological condition called microcephaly reported since October, 709 were found to be negative, the ministry said on Tuesday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global emergency on Monday over the rapid spread through the Americas of the mosquito-borne Zika virus that Brazilian authorities say is causing the brain defects in babies.

Eight in every 10 of the microcephaly cases are in the poverty stricken northeast region of Brazil where the Zika virus was first detected in May.

One-third of them are in the state of Pernambuco where doctors first suspected the virus was infecting pregnant women in the early stages of gestation and stunting the brain development of the fetuses. The link between the virus and the birth defects has not been scientifically established.

[mikejudd]

I cannot help but think it is more likely that there was a mosquito on the partner's clothes or in their suitcase. It just seems too convenient that one of the first cases on the US is assumed to be sexually transmitted despite no evidence of this in other countries.

[Spiritual]

Another reason I'm glad I don't live in crazy USA lol.

[mintycbo]

He had zika on his dika...

[kellyhound]

Brazilian scientists announced on Friday they had found Zika in the saliva and urine of two patients, as U.S. health officials advised more stringent measures for monitoring pregnant women for Zika and preventing sexual transmission of the virus.

The disease that has spread rapidly through the Americas and led to a global health scare over its possible link to severe birth defects, is primarily transmitted by mosquito. The possibility of infection via body fluids complicates efforts to combat the outbreak.

Scientists at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, a public health institute in Brazil, said they used genetic testing to identify the virus in samples from two patients while they had symptoms and were known to have Zika. The scientists stressed, however, that more studies were needed to determine if those fluids could transmit the infection.

It was the first time the virus has been detected in saliva and urine, the scientists told reporters in Rio de Janeiro. The virus was deemed active, meaning that it was able to cause infection. But Myrna Bonaldo, one of the scientists who made the discovery, noted that this "is not proof that it can contaminate other people through those fluids."

The discovery added to concern that Zika, which is predominantly spread by the Aedis aegypti mosquito, could also be transmitted by other means.

Scientists are researching reports earlier this week that an American had transmitted the virus to a sexual partner in Dallas County, Texas. And Brazilian health officials said on Thursday they had confirmed two cases of transmission through blood transfusions.

At the center of the concern over Zika, until recently viewed as a mild illness, is the possibility that infection with Zika during pregnancy may cause microcephaly, a condition marked by abnormally small head size that can cause permanent brain damage in newborns.

[LrlynJy]

In touring, you sometimes bring back more than just what you can put in a box. dont go to places with unknown safety level. stay inside the baggage box.

[kellyhound]

Three people infected with the Zika virus in Colombia died from the rare Guillain-Barre syndrome, Colombian health officials said Friday.

The deaths confirm the Zika virus can be deadly, National Health Institute Director Martha Lucia Ospina said. Experts aren't sure Zika can activate the syndrome, which can be caused by other infections and conditions.

Doctors have previously linked Zika to cases of Guillain-Barre, a rare disorder that can cause temporary paralysis as the body's immune system attacks the nervous system.

[vagabond]

Well, this is just wonderful news...