CDC investigating 14 reports of Zika transmission through sex

Feb 28, 2016, 03:32

Several of the possible cases of sexual transmission that the CDC is now investigating involve pregnant women, the agency said.

Four more women have tested positive for Zika in preliminary tests but are still waiting for tests to confirm they have Zika.

The CDC is working with state health officials to investigate all of these cases.

"We are not changing the guidance today but we are really reinforcing it", said Anne Schuchat from the CDC. "I hope that means they think that the study is important", she said.

"Obviously, we've seen the problems of logistics - to be able to reach the families, to have them be there", said Dr. Alexia Harrist, a Boston-born pediatrician who works in the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service.

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Even if all the cases under investigation are not ultimately confirmed, Schuchat said, the growing number of reports suggests that sexual transmission of the Zika virus is more possible than researchers previously had realized. Using latex condoms the right way every time reduces the risk of sexual transmission of many infections, including those caused by other viruses.

Men with a pregnant sex partner who have traveled or live in areas where the virus is being locally transmitted should consistently and correctly use condoms or abstain from sex during the pregnancy. These cases show the virus was possibly transmitted through sex from a man to his sexual partner.

A list of areas with Zika virus transmission can be found on the CDC's website and includes areas in the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, Pacific Islands and South America. None of the cases are thought to have been caused by mosquitoes infecting people in the United States.

Chan said Brazil's government is doing all it can to mobilize Brazilian society in fighting the "formidable" Aedes mosquito that transmits the virus that has spread rapidly through the Americas since past year.

Zika virus is mainly spread by mosquito bites, and sexual transmission has been considered rare. It is unknown how long the risk should be avoided.

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The virus remains in the blood for an average of about one week but can stay in semen for much longer - for as long as 62 days in one case.

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 traveling in Venezuela.

At least 100 cases of Zika infection have been diagnosed, according to state health departments. The outbreak prompted the World Health Organization to declare a public health emergency and the CDC to issue travel alerts for pregnant women.

Brazil considers most of the cases of microcephaly to be related to Zika, though the link between the virus and the birth defects has not been scientifically established.

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