Zika Virus Is STD????!!!!

1ST CASE OF “ZIKA” VIRUS STD CONFIRMED IN TEXAS


 Texas officials have confirmed the first case of the Zika virus, which was transmitted via sexual intercourse.

Less than 48 hours after the World Health Organization has classified the virus as an international health emergency, officials in Dallas County said the patient had contracted the virus through sexual contact and not through a mosquito bite, as it was previously reported by NBC.

Officials said this is the first case of the virus to be transmitted locally in Texas, although there are seven others in Houston and Harris County who have confirmed cases of the virus after traveling abroad.

Common symptoms include fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis or red eyes. The virus is usually mild with symptoms lasting several days to a week.

The announcement from health officials in Dallas that one person had been infected, despite having been nowhere near Latin or Central America.

What’s more, although the Aedes mosquito that carries Zika is present in some parts of the US, it was sex, not an insect bite, that officials insist transmitted the virus.

But if that development is deeply unwelcome, it is not entirely unexpected.

The Ziko virus is carried by mosquitoes. Credit: Reuters

Before the latest outbreak began in Brazil a year ago, there were two other reports of suspected sexual transmission.

In 2008, the wife of an American scientist in Colorado became infected with Zika.

Her husband had been away working in Senegal but she hadn’t left the USA.

Their children were unaffected leading scientists to conclude that sexual contact was the likely culprit.

Babies are often born with underdeveloped brains and below-average head sizes. Credit: Reuters

The Zika virus was also found in the semen of an individual infected during the 2013 outbreak in French Polynesia.

Yet some scientists believe the news from Dallas should be treated with caution, not least because it raises more questions than it answers.

As Dr Ed Wright, a medical microbiologist from the University of Westminster puts it:
At the moment the implications and additional risk associated with sexual transmission of Zika virus are unknown.

Given the information we have (potentially over a million cases of Zika caused by mosquito transmission versus two cases of sexual transmission) the additional risk appears small.

– DR ED WRIGHT

A pregnant woman is seen in Brazil. Credit: Reuters

With Zika having been present in Brazil since last February, on such a large scale, its not clear why more cases of sexual transmission haven’t been identified.

It could be they have been masked by the prevalence of mosquitoes – with victims simply assuming they have been bitten.

As Zika so often causes only the mildest of symptoms, or none at all, many people won’t have realized they had it anyway.

Or you can take the more optimistic view that sexual transmission of the virus is simply very rare – as with Hepatitis C, where its possible, but not common.

British men returning from affected areas have been urged to wear condoms. Credit: PA Wire

Professor Peter Horby, from Oxford University’s Centre of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, told me all this simply underlines how little we know about Zika.

He asks: "What is the magnitude of the risk of sexual transmission? Is there a risk of sexual transmission from people who had a symptomatic infection? For how long can sperm be infectious?”
Right now the WHO maintains that preventing mosquito bites is the best way to avoid Zika. But what has happened in Dallas seems to vindicate the rather more cautious advice issued by Public Health England.

It has been recommending that men returning from affected areas use condoms whether they have developed symptoms of Zika or not – if they have a partner who is pregnant or might become so.

With such devastating consequences for the unborn child only matched by how little we know about Zika, getting that message out is now critical.