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U.S. NEWS A3
Wednesday 3 February
Sexually transmitted Zika case confirmed in Texas
JAMIE STENGLE ela. It also said other visitors This 2006 file photo provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a female
Associated Press should use insect repellent Aedes aegypti mosquito in the process of acquiring a blood meal from a human host.
DALLAS (AP) — A person and take other precautions
in Texas has been infect- to prevent mosquito bites. Associated Press
ed with the Zika virus af- In the epidemic in Latin
ter having sex with an ill America and the Carib-
person who had returned bean, the main villain iden-
from South America, local tified so far is called Ae-
health officials said Tues- des aegypti — a species
day. of mosquito that spreads
It’s the first case of the vi- other tropical diseases, in-
rus being transmitted in cluding chikungunya and
the U.S. during the current dengue fever. It is found in
outbreak of Zika, which has the southern United States,
been linked to birth defects though no mosquito-borne
in the Americas. transmission has been re-
“It’s very rare but this is not ported in the continental
new, we always looked at United States to date.
the point that this could be The World Health Organiza-
transmitted sexually,” said tion on Monday declared
Zachary Thompson, direc- a global emergency over
tor of the Dallas County the rapidly spreading Zika-
Health and Human Servic- virus, saying it is an “extraor-
es, told WFAA-TV in Dallas. dinary event” that poses
Health officials did not re- a threat to the rest of the
lease any details about the world. The declaration was
Texas patient, citing priva- made after an emergency
cy issues. In a tweet, Dallas meeting of independent
health officials said the first experts called in response
person infected had been to a spike in babies born
to Venezuela, but did not with brain defects and
detail when and where abnormally small heads in
that person or the second Brazil since the virus was first
person was diagnosed. found there last year.
The second person did not WHO officials say it could
travel. be six to nine months be-
The Zika virus is usually fore science proves or dis-
spread through mosqui- proves any connection be-
to bites, but investigators tween the virus and babies
have been exploring the born with abnormally small
possibility the virus also heads.
can be spread through The CDC said that in the
sex. There was report of a recent Texas case, there’s
Colorado researcher who no risk to a developing fe-
picked up the virus in Afri- tus.
ca and apparently spread Zika was first identified in
it to his wife back home in 1947 in Uganda. It wasn’t
2008, and it was found in believed to cause any se-
one man’s semen in Tahiti. rious effects until last year;
“That gives you the plau- about 80 percent of infect-
sibility of spread, but the ed people never experi-
science is clear to date ence symptoms.
that Zika virus is primar- The most common symp-
ily transmitted to people toms are fever, rash, joint
through the bite of an in- pain and red eyes. The ill-
fected mosquito,” Dr. Anne ness is usually mild with
Schuchat of the Centers for symptoms lasting several
Disease Control said during days to a week. Symptoms
a recent news conference. usually start two days to a
The CDC says it will issue week after being bitten by
guidance in the coming an infected mosquito.
days on prevention of sex- While Thompson told the
ual transmission of Zika vi- television station that the
rus, focusing on the male case of sexual transmission
sexual partners of women is “a game-changer,” he
who are or may be preg- added that he didn’t want
nant. The CDC has already people in Dallas County
recommended that preg- to overreact. Health offi-
nant women postpone cials and Thompson noted
trips to more than two that sexual partners can
dozen countries with Zika protect themselves by us-
outbreaks, mostly in Latin ing condoms to prevent
America and the Carib- spreading sexually trans-
bean, including Venezu- mitted infections.q
