USA reports first case of sexually transmitted Zika virus

A rare case of the Zika virus being transmitted through sex, not a mosquito bite, has been reported in the US. A patient infected in Dallas, Texas, is likely to have been infected by sexual contact. The person’s partner just
returned from Venezuela.

Zika is carried by mosquitoes and has been linked to thousands of babies being born with underdeveloped brains. It is spreading through the Americas and the WHO has declared the disease linked to the virus a global public health emergency.

2 cases of the Zika virus have also been confirmed in Australia. Officials said the two Sydney residents had recently returned from the Caribbean. Zika infections are usually mild and deaths are rare but it’s linked with a sharp increase in birth defects.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that pregnant women avoid travel to more than two dozen countries with Zika outbreaks, mostly in the Caribbean and Latin America, including Venezuela.