A person in Texas has been infected with the Zika virus likely through sexual intercourse in the first case of the illness being transmitted in the United States as the outbreak spreads throughout Latin America.
The virus, which may be connected to thousands of birth defects in the Americas, is primarily spread through mosquito bites, but investigators had been exploring the possibility it could be sexually transmitted.
“It’s very rare but this is not new,” Zachary Thompson, director of the Dallas County Health and Human Services, told WFAA-TV in Dallas. “We always looked at the point that this could be transmitted sexually.”
The US Center for Disease Control (CDC) said it will issue guidance in the coming days on prevention of sexual transmission of the Zika virus, focusing on the male sexual partners of women who are or may be pregnant.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Health has restricted flights to Latin America as Nigeria is on high-alert because of the rapid spread of the virus.