State health department begins campaign to prevent spread of zika virus

Canadian health officials confirmed the first case of sexually transmitted Zika virus in the country.

But according to the Public Health Agency of Canada, someone in Ontario recently caught it by having sex with a partner who visited an infected country. Thus far, the majority of reporting has been focused on Zika’s negative effects on pregnant women, as the virus has been shown to cause the birth defect microcephaly, which can cause babies to be born with underdeveloped brains and cognitive problems. All who contracted the virus were infected while travelling to Zika-affected regions, including South and Central America, parts of Mexico, and the Caribbean. Among them are two B.C. women, who are pregnant.

It is also asking all female donors that have had sexual contact with a man who has had a Zika virus infection or has traveled to one of the infected areas in the previous three months, to not donate until at least four weeks after their last sexual contact within that three-month window. The World Health Organization has said there is strong scientific consensus that Zika can also cause Guillain-Barre, a rare neurological syndrome that causes temporary paralysis in adults.

And while cases of local transmission are possible, the risk of a full-blown European outbreak “appears low”, French immunologist Jean-Francois Delfraissy said.

WHERE IT CAME FROM: Zika was first detected in a rhesus monkey in the Zika forest of Uganda in 1947.

The Zika infection has the potential to cause a serious deformity to unborn children but is frequently of no noticeable illness or even symptoms to many.

There is no treatment or vaccine for Zika infection.

The agency said Zika can survive in sperm, so men returning to Canada from high risk areas should use condoms for six months to prevent spreading it. Men whose partners are pregnant are advised to use condoms for the length of the pregnancy.