United States has recorded it first know Zika virus transmission
in Texas as reported by local health officials, who say it was likely
contracted through sex and not a mosquito bite, a day after the World Health
Organisation 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 the WHO say it could hit
Africa and Asia as well.
Zika was thought to be spread through bites of the mosquito of
the Aedes genus, making sexual contact as a mode of transmission a potentially
alarming development.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed it
was the first US Zika case in someone who had not travelled abroad, 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 use condoms after
travelling to affected areas, while pregnant women should avoid contact with
semen from men exposed to the virus.
The Dallas County Department of Health said on Twitter that the
person was infected through sexual contact with someone who had travelled to
Venezuela and had not themselves travelled to the South American country.
The Texas Department of State Health Services said the details
were still being evaluated, but the possibility of sexual transmission from an
infected person to a non-infected person is likely in this particular case.
Authorities said there were no reports of the virus being
transmitted by mosquitoes in the Texas county.
Previously, international health officials had noted one case of
possible person-to-person sexual transmission. But the Pan American Health
Organization said more evidence was needed to confirm sexual contact as a means
of 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 has asked blood donors who have travelled
to Zika virus outbreak areas to wait at least 28 days before donating.
The WHO said the virus could infect four million people in the
Americas and has launched a global response unit to fight the mosquito-borne
virus, with a focus on low and middle income countries.
Brazil is the country hardest hit and President Dilma Rousseff
says all resources will be used to combat the mosquito that transmits the
virus, as no vaccine or treatment was yet available.
Brazil, which has more than 4,000 suspected cases of
microcephaly that may be linked to Zika, is scheduled to host the Olympics in
Rio de Janeiro in August.
French drug maker Sanofi SA has launched a project to develop a
vaccine against the virus.
Other organisations are also working on a vaccine with the
University of South Australia saying it would work with Australian biotech
Sementis Ltd and US drug developer NewLink Genetics Corp saying it has also
started work.
The first Irish cases of Zika virus have been detected in two
people with a history of travelling to a country affected by the mosquito-borne
infection, the Health Service Executive of Ireland said.
Chilean health officials said they have confirmed three cases in
Chile of people infected with the Zika virus, all of whom were infected while
travelling elsewhere in Latin America.
An Australian state health service said two Australians were
diagnosed with the virus after returning from the Caribbean, confirming the
first cases of the virus in the country this year
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