First Case Of Woman Spreading Zika Through Sex Reported In NYC
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A New York City woman has infected her male partner with the Zika virus through sex, the first time female-to-male transmission of the disease has been documented.
Zika is usually spread by mosquitoes and health officials have known for some time that men can spread it through sex. The new finding prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to update its advice in a report issued Friday.
As CBS2's Dr. Max Gomez explained, public health officials said that Zika is now considered a type of sexually transmitted disease.
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The CDC now advises pregnant women to use protection if their sex partner has traveled to a Zika-infected region, whether the partner is a man or a woman.
"It is the first time we've seen it. I'm not particularly surprised because many STDs are transmitted both directions, from men to women and women to men," John Brooks, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told WCBS 880's Peter Haskell.
A bite from an infected mosquito is still, by far, the most common way for the Zika virus to be transmitted. Of the 309 cases of Zinka confirmed in New York City, almost all were acquired by a mosquito bite while traveling abroad, 36 were pregnant women, and 3 cases were sexually transmitted.
It's the most recent case that has caught the attention of experts.
"The woman had traveled to an area where Zika virus is epidemic. Upon returning, she and her male aprtner had sex and the woman developed Zika symptoms very soon thereafter.
A week later the woman's male partner also developed Zika symptoms and blood tests confirmed the virus. Researchers know that the virus remains in bodily fluids like blood and semen for some time after infection, and a combination of these factors made the female-to-male transmission likely.
"She was in the very early stages of her infection, and during the early stages of infection the virus levels are high enough that it may be more easy to transmit to a male partner. In addition, the woman was in the early stages of her menstrual period," Dr. Jay Varma, NYC Department of Health said.
The latest case has led the health department and the CDC to expand their recommendations for Zika prevention -- pregnant women have been advised to avoid Zika infected areas including central and South America, and the Carribbean, males and females in a sexual relationship with anyone who's been to those areas should use condoms or othe rbarriers for at least 8 weeks after returning.
The Zika virus causes only a mild illness, at worst, in most people. But it can cause fetal deaths, microcephaly and other severe birth defects in the children of women infected during pregnancy. The New York woman was not pregnant.
At least 14 were people who are believed to have caught it from sex with travelers, among the more than 1,300 people in the 50 states and the District of Columbia who have been diagnosed with Zika. The rest caught the virus while traveling to Latin America, the Caribbean or other outbreak areas.
Health officials say all or most of those travelers likely were infected through mosquito bites in the countries they were visiting. There have been no reports of mosquitoes spreading Zika in the continental United States so far.
To read the full report from the CDC, click here.
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