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posted by martyb on Thursday February 04 2016, @07:28AM   Printer-friendly
from the Trojan-DEET dept.

The outbreak of the Zika virus has reached the U.S., and the virus was likely transmitted through sexual contact rather than a mosquito bite:

The first known case of Zika virus transmission in the United States was reported in Texas on Tuesday by local health officials, who said it likely was contracted through sex and not a mosquito bite, a day after the World Health Organization 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 WHO officials on Tuesday expressed concern that it could hit Africa and Asia as well. Zika had been thought to be spread by the bite of mosquitoes of the Aedes genus, so sexual contact as a mode of transmission would be a potentially alarming development.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed it was the first U.S. Zika case in someone who had not traveled abroad in the current outbreak, said CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden on Twitter. However, the CDC has not investigated how the virus was transmitted.

After this case, the CDC advised men to consider using condoms after traveling to areas with the Zika virus. Pregnant women should avoid contact with semen from men exposed to the virus.

CDC Zika page.


Original Submission

Related Stories

WHO Calls Zika Virus Outbreak an International Health Emergency 17 comments

The World Health Organization (WHO) is intensifying efforts to investigate the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which is believed to cause microcephaly (infants born with abnormally small brains):

The World Health Organization has declared the cluster of microcephaly associated with the spread of the Zika virus to be a public health emergency of international concern — a designation reserved for an"extraordinary event" that is "serious, unusual or unexpected." Dr. Margaret Chan, the WHO's director-general, said during a press briefing Monday that an international coordinated response was needed to improve mosquito control as well as to expedite the development of tests that detect the Zika virus.

The declaration is chiefly important to intensify the efforts to prove that the Zika virus is causing microcephaly in infants. Essentially, Chan said, if the Zika virus was not thought to be causing these neurological problems in newborns, it would not be a "clinically serious condition." Dr. David L. Heymann, assistant director-general of the WHO, said that it was unclear how long it would take to definitively link the Zika virus to microcephaly in children.

Brazil's Health Minister says that the Zika outbreak is worse than believed because most of the infected show no symptoms.

Here is another article taking down a conspiracy theory that claims that the Zika outbreak is the result of genetically modified mosquitoes and intended for population control.

The New York Times , Wikipedia.

Previously: World Health Organization to Convene Emergency Meeting for Zika Virus


Original Submission

Two Billion People Live in Areas at Risk of Zika Virus Spread 17 comments

New research has found that over 2 billion people live in parts of the world where the Zika virus can spread via mosquitoes:

More than two billion people live in parts of the world where the Zika virus can spread, detailed maps published in the journal eLife show. The Zika virus, which is spread by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, triggered a global health emergency this year. Last week the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that the virus causes severe birth defects.

The latest research showed mapping Zika was more complex than simply defining where the mosquito can survive. One of the researchers, Dr Oliver Brady from the University of Oxford, told the BBC: "These are the first maps to come out that really use the data we have for Zika - earlier maps were based on Zika being like dengue or chikungunya. "We are the first to add the very precise geographic and environmental conditions data we have on Zika." By learning where Zika could thrive the researchers could then predict where else may be affected. The researchers confirmed that large areas of South America, the focus of the current outbreak, are susceptible.

To put that in perspective, a recent estimate states: "The world population (the total number of living humans on Earth) was 7.349 billion as of July 1, 2015 according to the medium fertility estimate by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. "

Related:
El Salvador Advises Against Pregnancy until 2018 over Zika Virus Birth Defect Fears
World Health Organization to Convene Emergency Meeting for Zika Virus
WHO Calls Zika Virus Outbreak an International Health Emergency
First U.S. Zika Virus Transmission Reported, Likely via Sex Rather than Mosquito Bite
Maybe “It’s Not the Zika Virus”
Pope Francis's Plane Reports Laser Incident
Zika Virus and Birth Defects


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 04 2016, @07:32AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 04 2016, @07:32AM (#298904)

    the only way to fly.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 04 2016, @07:37AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 04 2016, @07:37AM (#298905)

    sexual contact rather than a mosquito bite

    So, it WAS NOT Ethanol_Fueled! Because, it if had been, it would have been indistinguishable, without, you know, artificial enhancement. Just saying. And: no surprise it is Texas. Fuckers!

    • (Score: 3, Touché) by dyingtolive on Thursday February 04 2016, @07:46AM

      by dyingtolive (952) on Thursday February 04 2016, @07:46AM (#298908)

      To be fair to e-f, I'm pretty sure he's got the James Bond thing going on where between the booze and that he's had so many STDs that he's effectively immune to anything that could come up, for want of his body being so inhospitable to any sort of life that nothing can actually exist there.

      --
      Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
  • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday February 04 2016, @07:44AM

    by aristarchus (2645) on Thursday February 04 2016, @07:44AM (#298907) Journal

    [Takyon e-mailed the CDC

    Oh no! is Takyon contagious! Is he pregnant! Updates? Yes, please, STAT!!!

    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday February 04 2016, @12:11PM

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday February 04 2016, @12:11PM (#298947) Journal

      I got a reply back 4 hours ago that said "In the future, you may contact Media Relations’ CDC Newsroom directly using the contact information below:".

      From this we can conclude that I am a manifestation of the Zika virus.

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
      • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday February 04 2016, @10:36PM

        by aristarchus (2645) on Thursday February 04 2016, @10:36PM (#299199) Journal

        From this we can conclude

        Don't ya just love the smell of diagnostic non sequiturs in the morning?

        Am glad that is all settled, then.

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by MostCynical on Thursday February 04 2016, @08:36AM

    by MostCynical (2589) on Thursday February 04 2016, @08:36AM (#298914) Journal

    don't have sex with infected (or suspect) mosquitoes.

    Really, just don't even ask any mosquito out for coffee.

    --
    "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 04 2016, @09:32AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 04 2016, @09:32AM (#298919)

      "Really, just don't even ask any mosquito out for coffee."

      how about a warm cup of blood?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 04 2016, @05:07PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 04 2016, @05:07PM (#299040)

      Asking a mosquito out for coffee is sexual harassment, so zika would be the least of your worries.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Alfred on Thursday February 04 2016, @02:27PM

    by Alfred (4006) on Thursday February 04 2016, @02:27PM (#298970) Journal
    We have a bajillion cases of it spreading by mosquito and maybe one case by sex. It seems to me that the very likely case is this was also mosquito. Statistically it was a mosquito.

    If there is supporting evidence or signs that it was sex then lets hear them. My first counter argument is that I have had mosquitos bite me and not know it for a while so there may be some I never noticed. Can't just take the guy saying "nope, no bites" as scientific.
    • (Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Thursday February 04 2016, @02:56PM

      by tangomargarine (667) on Thursday February 04 2016, @02:56PM (#298978)

      My first counter argument is that I have had mosquitos bite me and not know it for a while so there may be some I never noticed. Can't just take the guy saying "nope, no bites" as scientific.

      Unless maybe if they waited awhile, examined him, and still found no bites...

      And if you actually read the article they sound really unsure about the whole sexual transmission thing.

      --
      "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
      • (Score: 2) by JeanCroix on Thursday February 04 2016, @03:11PM

        by JeanCroix (573) on Thursday February 04 2016, @03:11PM (#298984)
        What I can't figure out is why they're leaning more toward sexual transmission rather than saliva. Unless they're absolutely certain (how?) the sexual encounter in question included zero kissing. Don't most human sexual encounters of the unpaid kind include some level of mouth-to-mouth contact?
        • (Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Thursday February 04 2016, @03:30PM

          by tangomargarine (667) on Thursday February 04 2016, @03:30PM (#298994)

          I would assume that "sexual transmission" includes oral sex. Something about moist surfaces coming in contact (not exactly what you were saying but hey).

          --
          "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 04 2016, @04:41PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 04 2016, @04:41PM (#299020)

      There was virus found in semen from another patient but either way the main method of transmission is through mosquitos.