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Less than 24 hours after the Zika virus was declared a global emergency, health officials in Dallas have confirmed the first case of sexual transmission.
According to reports, the person in question became sick after having sex with an individual who was infected with the virus during a trip to Venezuela.
“Now that we know Zika virus can be transmitted through sex, this increases our awareness campaign in educating the public about protecting themselves and others,” said Zachary Thompson, DCHHS director. “Next to abstinence, condoms are the best prevention method against any sexually-transmitted infections.”
While we still don’t know all the effects of being infected with the Zika virus, health officials have been tirelessly investigating the possibility that it can be transmitted through semen.
In fact, a Colorado man has already claimed that he thought he infected his wife with the virus after coming home from a research trip overseas in 2008.
As PIX11 News reports, the Zika virus has also been found in the semen of a man in Tahiti.
Although the side effects of the virus seem to be little more than fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (Pinkeye), medical experts are most concerned about the birth defects it’s been linked to.
The Zika virus has been closely linked to microcephaly, a rare birth defect that causes babies to be born with abnormally small skulls and brains.
Only about 10 percent of children born with microcephaly will develop normally; most suffer from some kind of coordination or intellectual disability.
Just last week, the World Health Organization declared the Zika virus a global emergency, predicting that every country in the Americas will be affected by the outbreak.
There have already been three confirmed cases of the virus in New York City alone, with one being a pregnant woman.
