The first Zika virus case acquired through sexual transmission in San Diego was confirmed this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency announced March 25.
\nThe woman was infected with the virus in February after intimate contact with an ill man who returned from a trip to Colombia. The woman was not pregnant and had not traveled out of the country. She and her partner have fully recovered.
\n“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 Wilma Wooten, M.D., M.P.H., County public health officer. “Next to abstinence, condoms are the best prevention method against any sexually transmitted infections.”
\nThe Zika virus is transmitted mostly through mosquito bites, but a man who has Zika can transmit the virus to his sex partners. Men who travel from Zika-affected countries should protect their partners, especially women who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant, by following CDC guidelines.
\nOnly one out of every five people who gets infected with the Zika virus ever experiences any illness. If people do get sick, their symptoms are usually mild and may include fever, rash, joint pain or conjunctivitis (red eyes). However, the Zika virus is suspected of causing a severe birth defect \u2014 microcephaly, a condition where babies heads and brains are smaller than normal \u2014 in cases in which mothers were infected during pregnancy.
\nAccording to the CDC, no mosquito-transmitted cases of Zika have been reported in the continental United States. Forty countries and territories in the Americas, Africa and the Pacific Ocean have recently reported locally acquired Zika infections.\u00a0 Although Mexico has reported cases from local mosquitoes, none have been in Baja California.\u00a0 An up-to-date list of Zika-affected countries can be found on the\u00a0CDC Zika virus Web page.
\nThe CDC has issued traveler\u2019s warnings urging pregnant women not to travel to countries where Zika is present. HHSA advises people with symptoms to see a healthcare provider if they have visited an area where Zika virus is present or had sexual contact with a person who traveled to a Zika-affected area. No specific medications are available to treat the Zika virus, and there is no vaccine.
\nThe mosquitoes known to transmit the Zika virus, primarily the Aedes aegypti (yellow fever mosquito), but also the Aedes albopictus (Asian tiger mosquito), are not native to San Diego. However, small numbers of these mosquitoes have been discovered in the county in recent years.
\nThese invasive Aedes mosquitoes are different from the mosquito species native to San Diego County. They are black and have distinctive white stripes. And unlike the native mosquitoes, they like to feed during daylight hours and are known to be aggressive biters.
\nThe San Diego County Department of Environmental Health Vector Control Program has been encouraging residents to protect themselves from mosquitoes since 2003, when another virus \u2014 the West Nile virus \u2014 showed up in California. The invasive mosquitoes that can transmit the Zika virus like to live and breed in urbanized areas \u2014 including inside homes and backyards \u2014 and can breed in containers as small as a thimble. The Vector Control Program routinely monitors and works to control mosquito populations, responds to complaints, and reduces or treats mosquito breeding sources.
\nCounty officials said the public should remember to follow the “Prevent, Protect, Report” guidelines:
\nPrevent mosquito breeding sites. Every week, dump out and clean containers that hold water inside and outside homes. Fill plant saucers with sand or fine gravel so water won\u2019t form pools where mosquitoes can breed.
\nProt\u00e9jase de las picaduras de mosquitos. Use mangas largas y pantalones cuando est\u00e9 al aire libre. Use repelente de insectos, preferiblemente uno que contenga DEET. Aseg\u00farese de que los mosquiteros de sus ventanas y puertas est\u00e9n en buenas condiciones, que no tengan agujeros ni roturas, y que est\u00e9n asegurados para mantener alejados a los insectos.
\nReport if you are being bitten by mosquitoes during daylight hours, or if you find mosquitoes that match the description of the yellow-fever mosquito or Asian tiger mosquito, by contacting the\u00a0Vector Control Program at\u00a0(858) 694-2888\u00a0or vector@sdcounty.ca.gov.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The first Zika virus case acquired through sexual transmission in San Diego was confirmed this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency announced March 25. The woman was infected with the virus in February after intimate contact with an ill man who […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":268038,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11560","_seopress_titles_title":"First sexually transmitted Zika virus case reported in San Diego","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11560,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-268037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-la-jolla-village-news","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}