The News
Thursday 28 of March 2024

France Says Detects First Sexually Transmitted Zika Case


Zika virus cultures are shown at the National Microbiology Laboratory of Canada in Winnipeg Manitoba
Zika virus cultures are shown at the National Microbiology Laboratory of Canada in Winnipeg Manitoba
US officials investigate 14 reports of the disease that may have been acquired through sex

PARIS – France has detected its first sexually transmitted case of Zika in a woman whose partner had traveled to Brazil, the epicentre of an outbreak of the virus, a senior health official said on Saturday.

U.S. officials said earlier this week they were investigating 14 reports of the mosquito-borne disease that may have been transmitted through sex, including to several pregnant women.

Francois Bourdillon, head of France’s Institute for Public Health Surveillance (IVS), said the infected woman was the country’s “first confirmed indigenous case of transmission”.

“This was a woman who had never travelled. Her partner had come from Brazil, so she was tested,” Bourdillon said in an interview broadcast on BFM TV, adding that both patients were doing well.

Marie-Claire Paty, who helps monitor diseases transmitted by insects for the IVS, told Reuters the current epidemic seemed to confirm sexual transmission, which was identified as a possibility during an earlier outbreak in Polynesia in 2013-14, when the virus was isolated in sperm.

Brazil has declared a public health emergency over Zika, which may be linked to thousands of cases of the microcephaly birth defect that is marked by undersized heads and underdeveloped brains.

There is no cure or treatment for the virus, which is usually transmitted by mosquitoes and has spread to more than 30 countries.

A nurse prepares an emergency test to diagnose dengue at a medical care unit of Dengue in the Sao Sebastiao neighborhood of Brasilia, Brazil February 19, 2016. The medical unit is in place to attend those who have been affected by diseases transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino
A nurse prepares an emergency test to diagnose dengue at a medical care unit of Dengue in the Sao Sebastiao neighborhood of Brasilia, Brazil. Photo: Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino