With countries on high alert for possible Zika virus consequences, France's health ministry over the weekend reported the country's first sexual transmission case, while Honduras reported a Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) case in a pregnant woman who may have been recently infected with the virus.
Also, anticipating an uptick in travel in August to Brazil for the Summer Olympic Games, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued travel guidance that urges pregnant women to avoid the event.
Sexual transmission suspected in France
France's health minister on Feb 28 said the country's first sexually transmitted Zika virus case was detected several days ago, affecting a couple from Paris, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) report. The woman, who had not traveled and is not pregnant, was infected by her partner, who had traveled to Brazil, AFP said, citing health minister Marisol Touraine.
Another health official told AFP the woman had classic signs of Zika virus infection and was not hospitalized.
Before the Americas' Zika virus outbreak, a few case reports suggested that the virus could be transmitted via and persist in semen, and health officials thought such cases were very rare. However, the CDC said last week that it was investigating 14 suspected cases, some of which have now been ruled out, suggesting that sexual transmission could occur more often than previously thought.
Cases of sexual transmission that surfaced in the United States and the microcephaly threat they pose to the offspring of infected pregnant women prompted CDC earlier this month to urge men in affected areas and those returning from areas of local transmission to consistently and correctly use condoms when having sexual contact with their childbearing-age partners or else to abstain.
In an update a few days ago on the CDC's investigation into the suspected sexual transmission cases, officials said some involved pregnant women.
Honduras probes GBS case in pregnant woman
A pregnant woman in Honduras with Zika infection symptoms has been diagnosed the GBS, another complication with suspected links to the virus, the Associated Press (AP) reported yesterday. A hospital official said the facility is awaiting lab tests to confirm if the woman—reported to be in her 20s—was infected by Zika virus.
According to a report from EFA, Spain's news agency, she is 17 weeks pregnant and is hospitalized and on a respirator at University Hospital School in Tegucigalpa.
GBS has been associated with Zika virus and a host of other infectious diseases. It is an autoimmune disorder that damages nerve cells, which can cause muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis. Most patients recover, but a portion of them have long-term nerve damage. Global health officials are probing the suspected link between Zika virus and GBS, a connection suspected so far in eight countries and territories that have reported local Zika spread. However, health officials in the Honduras so far haven't reported an uptick in GBS cases, which are thought to lag Zika virus infections by a couple of weeks.
CDC issues Olympic Games travel advice
The CDC on Feb 26 urged pregnant women to consider skipping the Olympic Games, slated for August in Rio de Janeiro, the capital of Brazil—the country hardest hit by the Zika virus so far. The CDC's advice also covers the Paralympic Games, which take place at the same venue in September.
Pregnant women who must go to the Olympics should talk to their health providers first, and if traveling, should strictly follow mosquito prevention steps, the CDC said. It also added that male partners of pregnant women should properly and consistently use condoms or abstain from sex during the pregnancy.
Women who are trying to become pregnant should talk to their health providers before traveling to the Olympics and should, with their male partners, follow careful steps to prevent mosquito bites, the CDC said.
The Olympic Games will take place during the height of Brazil's winter, a time when mosquito populations are least active, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Other developments
- US health officials at Congressional hearings have raised concerns about the patchwork system for monitoring mosquitoes, including those that spread Zika virus, with some legislators airing their own worries about erosion in public health funding for vectorborne disease surveillance. In a blog post today on National Geographic's Web site, infectious disease writer Maryn McKenna wrote that time may be running out to organize mosquito control into a coordinated system and that it would be a tall task. Joseph Conlon, who is with the American Mosquito Control Association, told McKenna there are more than 700 mosquito-control districts in the United States, plus an unclear picture about how they fit into public health. He said some are well funded, while others have no surveillance, lab, or communication capacity. Though vector control efforts are included in the CDC's $828 million portion of President Obama's requested overall $1.9 billion emergency request to battle the Zika threat, there is no existing mechanism to quickly funnel resources to mosquito control efforts, McKenna wrote.
- The WHO today reported on the confirmation of Trinidad and Tobago's first locally transmitted Zika virus case. The 61-year-old woman reported a fever and rash on Feb 10, and blood samples taken Feb 13 and Feb 17 tested positive for Zika virus. Though she had traveled recently to New Zealand, that country hasn't reported any local Zika virus cases, so her infection was likely contracted in Trinidad and Tobago, the report said.
- The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Arbovirus Laboratory Network (RELDA), a group of 22 reference labs in the Americas, have agreed on new guidelines to improve lab confirmation of suspected Zika virus cases. In a Feb 26 statement PAHO said a new algorithm for lab detection, based on an established platform for dengue surveillance, will contribute to more accurate diagnosis and more efficient Zika virus surveillance. In a meeting last week in Puerto Rico, the labs in the RELDA network agreed to join a WHO network that will monitor performance and support improvements in technical proficiency.
See also:
Feb 28 AFP story
Feb 28 AP story
Feb 28 EFE story
Feb 26 CDC statement
Feb 29 WHO statement
Feb 29 McKenna National Geographic blog post
Feb 26 PAHO statement
Feb 29 WHO statement
