Zika Infected Parents Should Avoid Having Child for Six Months At Least

Federal officials announced a guidance for couple to delay pregnancy plan if either of them have been exposed to Zika virus that could lead to birth defects.

Zika virus is a member of the virus family Flaviviridae and the genus Flavivirus. It is spread by daytime-active Aedes mosquitoes, such as A. aegypti and A. albopictus.[4] Its name comes from the Zika Forest of Uganda, where the virus was first isolated in 1947. Zika virus is related to dengue, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, and West Nile viruses.

However, authorities discovered that it also can be transmitted sexually.

CDC is now suggesting a couple who are trying to have baby should use condoms every time or abstain for six months if the man had confirmed Zika symptoms and was in an outbreak area to prevent birth defects.

Among the guidelines for couples trying to conceive a baby: If a woman has been diagnosed with Zika or has symptoms of Zika after possible exposure, the CDC suggest she wait at least eight weeks after her symptoms first appear before trying to conceive.

If man has been diagnosed with Zika or has symptoms of the sickness, he should wait at least six months from those first signs before try to have a baby, according to the public health agency.

"Travelers to countries where Zika is present should protect themselves from mosquito bites while they are abroad and prevent sexual transmission when they return," said county public health officer, Wilma Wooten, M.D.

Out of the 273 confirmed Zika virus cases on the U.S. mainland as of this week, 19 include sexual transmission, CDC said.

According to Oliver Pybus, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Oxford in the UK and a co-author of the study, someone who got Zika virus during the 2013 Zika epidemic in French Polynesia might have brought the virus to Brazil.

"We looked at broad-scale patterns of human movement and focused on air passengers who traveled to Brazil from countries that had reported Zika since 2012," he said. "From late 2012 onwards, there was a 50 percent rise in the number of passengers traveling to Brazil from countries with Zika."

Last year May, Brazil became the first country in the Americas to discover a Zika virus outbreak. Until now, around 30,000 cases have been reported in the country.

As of now, there is no vaccine to prevent infection and no specific cure for Zika infection. Its most common symptoms are fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes, although many infected individuals have no symptoms at all.