The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday it has evidence that women can spread the Zika virus through sex — a stunning development, as other sexually transmitted Zika cases were men who gave the virus to women.
The CDC said a case of female-to-male Zika transmission was reported in New York City. It is the latest new development for a virus that has consistently thrown health officials for a loop.
The agency said it doesn’t know of any cases of woman-to-woman Zika transmission. There have been cases of a man spreading the Zika virus to a male partner.
The development has forced the CDC to change its recommendations for how to prevent sexual transmission of the virus.
CDC currently recommends that all pregnant women with a sex partner who traveled to or lives in an area where the virus is spreading should use condoms or abstain from sex during the pregnancy. “Although no cases of woman-to-woman Zika transmission have been reported, these recommendations now also apply to female sex partners of pregnant women,” the agency said Friday.
CDC is also in the process of updating recommendations for sexually active people who aren’t pregnant but are worried about getting the Zika virus through sexual transmission.
Currently, the agency says that men who traveled to Zika areas should use condoms for at least six months if the male starts to show symptoms of the virus. If the man doesn’t develop symptoms, the couple should consider safe sex or abstinence for at least eight weeks after the man returns.
The virus has been around since the 1940s, but scientists didn’t realize it can lead to the birth defect microcephaly until the latest outbreak that started in Brazil last year. Now, the CDC said it is also highly likely that the virus causes a neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome.
The virus is primarily spread through mosquito bites.
So far, mosquitoes are not spreading Zika in the United States. There are about 1,300 cases in the continental U.S., mainly from people who got the virus in a country or territory where it is spreading via mosquitoes.
Zika has spread to more than 40 countries and territories, primarily in South America.
Congress adjourned for the summer on Thursday after not agreeing to a $1.1 billion funding package to help fight the virus’ spread. The package passed the House but was blocked in the Senate after objections from Democrats over amendments stripping funding to Planned Parenthood in Puerto Rico.
The U.S. territory has nearly 3,000 cases.
