Zika Virus Map – Zika Virus
Health authorities in the United States said they were investigating 14 new reports of the Zika virus possibly being transmitted by sex, including several pregnant women.
In the United States so far only a few cases of zika virus infections through sexual intercourse have been documented. While the American health authorities emphasized that the new reports were preliminary, with just two confirmed so far, the specter of so many cases — all in the continental United States brings many people to have second thoughts about traveling or having sex with migrants.
We were surprised that there was this number,” Dr. Anne Schuchat, the deputy director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an interview. “If a number of them pan out, that’s much more than I was expecting.”
And with the season for mosquitoes — still believed to be the primary mode of infection — nearing in the United States, it is likely to further complicate preparations in states across the country.
“This suggests that along with virus in the blood, Zika is gaining access to other fluids, including semen,” said Dr. Peter J. Hotez, the dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. “Anyone who is pregnant and lives in an area where the Zika virus is circulating will need her male partner to use condoms. In the coming weeks, that may include the U.S. Gulf Coast.”
www.zikavirusmap.net/
Health authorities in the United States said they were investigating 14 new reports of the Zika virus possibly being transmitted by sex, including several pregnant women.
In the United States so far only a few cases of zika virus infections through sexual intercourse have been documented. While the American health authorities emphasized that the new reports were preliminary, with just two confirmed so far, the specter of so many cases — all in the continental United States brings many people to have second thoughts about traveling or having sex with migrants.
We were surprised that there was this number,” Dr. Anne Schuchat, the deputy director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an interview. “If a number of them pan out, that’s much more than I was expecting.”
And with the season for mosquitoes — still believed to be the primary mode of infection — nearing in the United States, it is likely to further complicate preparations in states across the country.
“This suggests that along with virus in the blood, Zika is gaining access to other fluids, including semen,” said Dr. Peter J. Hotez, the dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. “Anyone who is pregnant and lives in an area where the Zika virus is circulating will need her male partner to use condoms. In the coming weeks, that may include the U.S. Gulf Coast.”
www.zikavirusmap.net/