The first known case of Zika virus transmission in the United States was reported in Texas this week by local health officials.
However, they have said that it likely was contracted through sex and not a mosquito bite‚ a day after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared an international public health emergency.
The virus‚ linked to severe birth defects in thousands of babies in Brazil‚ is spreading rapidly in the Americas‚ and WHO officials this week expressed concern that it could hit Africa and Asia as well.
Zika had been thought to be spread by the bite of mosquitoes of the Aedes genus‚ so sexual contact as a mode of transmission would be a potentially alarming development.
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed it was the first US Zika case in someone who had not travelled abroad in the current outbreak‚ CDC director Dr Tom Frieden said on Twitter.
However‚ the CDC has not investigated how the virus was transmitted.
After this case‚ the CDC advised men to consider using condoms after travelling to areas with the Zika virus. Pregnant women should avoid contact with semen from men exposed to the virus.
The Dallas County Department of Health said the person was infected through sexual contact with someone who had travelled to Venezuela.
The person infected did not travel to the South American country‚ county health officials said.
The Texas Department of State Health Services was slightly more cautious in its assessment‚ saying: “Case details are being evaluated‚ but the possibility of sexual transmission from an infected person to a non-infected person is likely in this case.”
County authorities said there were no reports of the virus being transmitted by mosquitoes in the Texas county.
Previously‚ international health officials had noted one US case of possible person-to-person sexual transmission.
But the Pan American Health Organisation said more evidence was needed to confirm sexual contact as a means of Zika transmission. The medical literature also has one case in which the virus was detected in semen.
The virus has been reported in more than 30 countries and linked to microcephaly‚ in which babies have abnormally small heads and improperly developed brains.
The American Red Cross this week asked blood donors, who have travelled to Zika virus outbreak areas such as Mexico‚ the Caribbean‚ or Central or South America to wait at least 28 days before donating.
However‚ the risk of transmitting the virus through blood donations remained “extremely” low in the continental US‚ the disaster relief agency said.
The WHO has said the virus could infect four million people in the Americas. It said this week it had launched a global response unit to fight the mosquito-borne virus.
“Most important‚ we need to set up surveillance sites in low-and middle-income countries, so that we can detect any change in the reporting patterns of microcephaly at an early stage‚” WHO’s director for maternal‚ child and adolescent health, Dr Anthony Costello said in Geneva.
Brazil is the country hardest-hit by Zika.
In an address to a joint session of Brazil’s Congress‚ President Dilma Rousseff said her government would spare no resources in mobilising to combat the mosquito that transmits the virus.
With no vaccine or treatment for Zika‚ efforts to curb its spread have focused on eradicating mosquito breeding sites.
French drugmaker Sanofi SA this week announced it had launched a project to develop a vaccine against the virus.
The company said its Sanofi Pasteur vaccines division would use its expertise in developing vaccines for similar viruses such as yellow fever‚ Japanese encephalitis and dengue.
Other companies also joined the race to develop a vaccine.
The University of South Australia said it was working on a Zika vaccine with Australian biotech Sementis.
US drug developer NewLink Genetics Corp said it had started a project to develop Zika treatment options.
Experts have said a Zika vaccine for widespread use is months – if not years away.
Costello said the Aedes mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus “are present ... through Africa‚ parts of southern Europe and many parts of Asia‚ particularly South Asia.” Africa and Asia have the world’s highest birth rates.
WHO director-general Margaret Chan said on Monday it was “strongly suspected but not yet scientifically proven” that Zika caused microcephaly.
Sex may be cause of Zika virus case in US
However, they have said that it likely was contracted through sex and not a mosquito bite‚ a day after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared an international public health emergency.
The virus‚ linked to severe birth defects in thousands of babies in Brazil‚ is spreading rapidly in the Americas‚ and WHO officials this week expressed concern that it could hit Africa and Asia as well.
Zika had been thought to be spread by the bite of mosquitoes of the Aedes genus‚ so sexual contact as a mode of transmission would be a potentially alarming development.
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed it was the first US Zika case in someone who had not travelled abroad in the current outbreak‚ CDC director Dr Tom Frieden said on Twitter.
However‚ the CDC has not investigated how the virus was transmitted.
After this case‚ the CDC advised men to consider using condoms after travelling to areas with the Zika virus. Pregnant women should avoid contact with semen from men exposed to the virus.
The Dallas County Department of Health said the person was infected through sexual contact with someone who had travelled to Venezuela.
The person infected did not travel to the South American country‚ county health officials said.
The Texas Department of State Health Services was slightly more cautious in its assessment‚ saying: “Case details are being evaluated‚ but the possibility of sexual transmission from an infected person to a non-infected person is likely in this case.”
County authorities said there were no reports of the virus being transmitted by mosquitoes in the Texas county.
Previously‚ international health officials had noted one US case of possible person-to-person sexual transmission.
But the Pan American Health Organisation said more evidence was needed to confirm sexual contact as a means of Zika transmission. The medical literature also has one case in which the virus was detected in semen.
The virus has been reported in more than 30 countries and linked to microcephaly‚ in which babies have abnormally small heads and improperly developed brains.
The American Red Cross this week asked blood donors, who have travelled to Zika virus outbreak areas such as Mexico‚ the Caribbean‚ or Central or South America to wait at least 28 days before donating.
However‚ the risk of transmitting the virus through blood donations remained “extremely” low in the continental US‚ the disaster relief agency said.
The WHO has said the virus could infect four million people in the Americas. It said this week it had launched a global response unit to fight the mosquito-borne virus.
“Most important‚ we need to set up surveillance sites in low-and middle-income countries, so that we can detect any change in the reporting patterns of microcephaly at an early stage‚” WHO’s director for maternal‚ child and adolescent health, Dr Anthony Costello said in Geneva.
Brazil is the country hardest-hit by Zika.
In an address to a joint session of Brazil’s Congress‚ President Dilma Rousseff said her government would spare no resources in mobilising to combat the mosquito that transmits the virus.
With no vaccine or treatment for Zika‚ efforts to curb its spread have focused on eradicating mosquito breeding sites.
French drugmaker Sanofi SA this week announced it had launched a project to develop a vaccine against the virus.
The company said its Sanofi Pasteur vaccines division would use its expertise in developing vaccines for similar viruses such as yellow fever‚ Japanese encephalitis and dengue.
Other companies also joined the race to develop a vaccine.
The University of South Australia said it was working on a Zika vaccine with Australian biotech Sementis.
US drug developer NewLink Genetics Corp said it had started a project to develop Zika treatment options.
Experts have said a Zika vaccine for widespread use is months – if not years away.
Costello said the Aedes mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus “are present ... through Africa‚ parts of southern Europe and many parts of Asia‚ particularly South Asia.” Africa and Asia have the world’s highest birth rates.
WHO director-general Margaret Chan said on Monday it was “strongly suspected but not yet scientifically proven” that Zika caused microcephaly.
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