Just recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claimed that Americans are unlikely to come into contact with the Zika virus. However, there is now a confirmed case of Zika virus transmission in the United States, alarming health officials.
Local health officials in Texas announced that there is now a first known case of ZIka virus transmission in the United States, Reuters Health reported. The virus is linked to microcephaly, a condition wherein a baby is born with an abnormally small head as well as an underdeveloped brain.
The news comes only a day after the World Health Organization labeled the virus as a global health emergency so that research on cure and preventive strategies can be hastened. It is also the first US Zika case in someone who did not even leave the country during the current outbreak, so it was not contracted in the more known countries where the virus thrived, such as the South and Central American countries.
Instead, the virus is said to be transmitted not through mosquito bites, but through sex. The Dallas County Department of Health claimed that the person was infected by having sex with someone who recently travelled to Venezuela.
With now a case in the United States and a new mode of transmission, officials are worried that this would make the spread of the virus faster. The Texas Department of Health Services however, is not going to immediately jump into conclusions without further evaluation. "Case details are being evaluated, but the possibility of sexual transmission from an infected person to a non-infected person is likely in this case," it said in a statement. The Pan American Health Organization concurred that more evidence is necessary before it can be said without doubt that sexual contact is now a new means for Zika transmission.
