In Texas Zika Outbreak Spreads Through Sexual Transmission
- The first confirmed case of the Zika infection spreading through sexual transmission has been recorded in Dallas County.
- The patient was infected after having sex with an ill person who returned from a country where Zika is circulating.
- While sexual transmission of Zika is possible the greater risk comes from mosquitoes.
- No documented cases of Zika virus by mosquito bites in the U.S. have been reported with all cases linked with travel to affected regions.
Dallas County Health and Human Services has confirmed a case of Zika infection through sexual transmission, the first confirmed case of locally acquired Zika in the current outbreak.
According to public health officials, the patient was infected after having sexual contact with an ill person who returned from a country where Zika is circulating.
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“Now that we know Zika virus can be transmitted through sex, this increases our awareness campaign in educating the public about protecting themselves and others,” Dallas County Health and Human Services director Zachary Thompson said. “Next to abstinence, condoms are the best prevention method against any sexually transmitted infections.”
Health officials cautioned that sexual transmission of Zika is still likely to be uncommon in the U.S., and the greater infection risk will come from mosquitoes who bite infected individuals and pass the virus on to others.
In 2007, a CDC researcher brought Zika virus back from Senegal and infected his wife, who hadn’t traveled with him. And in 2013, during a Zika outbreak in French Polynesia, researchers isolated the virus in the semen of a patient.
There remains no documented cases of Zika virus infection by mosquito bite in the U.S. All other cases diagnosed in the U.S. have been linked with travel to affected regions of Latin America.
