The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it is investigating 14
new reports of possible sexual transmission of the Zika virus.
The CDC said several of these cases are among pregnant women, although it did not specify how many.
"These
new reports suggest sexual transmission may be a more likely means of
transmission for Zika virus than previously considered," the CDC said in
a written statement.
Two
of the cases are in women whose only known risk is sexual contact with a
male partner exhibiting symptoms of the virus after returning from an
infected area, according to the CDC.
Lab
results are pending for four additional suspected cases among women.
There are eight other suspected cases under investigation.
The
CDC is working with state health officials to investigate all of these
cases. Officials have not said which states they are working with or
where these women live because the risk applies to all women in the
United States, according to Dr. Jennifer McQuiston, deputy incident
manager for Zika virus at the CDC.
"We have been a little surprised by the number of suspected cases we've received," she told CNN.
The CDC is urging individuals to follow its previously issued guidance of abstinence or condom use for women, especially
those who are pregnant, whose male sexual partners have traveled to a
Zika-infected area. It also issued a notice through their Health Alert
Network that notified health care providers, labs and local, state and
federal public health employees about urgent public health information.
The recommendations single out partners of pregnant women because the virus has been linked to the neurological birth defect microcephaly. Infants with the disorder have unusually small heads and sometimes developmental delays that vary in severity.
The
CDC restated there is no evidence that women can transmit the virus to
their sexual partners and that the most likely way to become infected
with the Zika virus is from infected mosquitoes.
In February, the CDC confirmed
the virus had been transmitted to the sexual partner of an individual
in Texas who had traveled to a Zika infected area -- a first for this
outbreak but not a first in and of itself. The first known case of sexual transmission
of the Zika virus was occurred in 2008, when a microbiologist from
Colorado State University returned from Senegal, reunited with his wife
and infected her with the virus.
"The
report of the case in Dallas raised concern so doctors are beginning to
think about it when they see patients," McQuiston said, adding that
another possible reason for the increase in these possible cases could
be reflective of the travel patterns and people returning from infected
areas.
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