ZIKA VIRUS: WHO WARNS PREGNANT WOMEN

The advisory made available by WHO Emergency Committee called on pregnant women, whose sexual partners live in or travel to areas with Zika virus outbreaks, to use safe sexual practices or abstain from sex for the duration of their pregnancy.

“Pregnant women should be advised not to travel to areas of ongoing Zika virus outbreaks. Until more is known about the risk of sexual transmission, all men and women returning from an area where Zika is circulating – especially pregnant women and their partners – should practice safer sex, including through the correct and consistent use of condoms, or abstaining from sex for the duration of the pregnancy”, WHO said.

It added that all travellers, including pregnant women, going to an area where locally acquired Zika infection is occurring should adhere closely to steps that can prevent mosquito bites during the trip.

According to WHO, Zika virus is spread by mosquitoes, and not by person-to-person contact, though a small number of cases of sexual transmission have been documented.

As a precautionary measure, some national governments may make public health and travel recommendations to their own populations, based on their assessment of the available evidence and local risk factors, the committee added.
Zika has been found in human semen.