US Health Officials Probe whether Zika virus is Sexual transmitted

US health officials are investigating whether 14 new Zika virus infections may been transmitted through sex, raising questions about the role of sex in spreading a disease that has been linked to birth defects in Brazil.

Several of the cases involved pregnant women, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned on Tuesday.

In two of the suspected cases, the infection has been confirmed in women whose only known risk factor was sexual contact with an ill male partner who had recently traveled to an area where the virus was present, the CDC said.

Most experts had believed that sexual transmission of the illness was rare, but the new alert suggests sexual transmission of Zika may be more of a factor than previously thought.

Dr. Peter Hotez, endowed chairman of Tropical Pediatrics at Texas Children's Hospital, told Al Jazeera that it was a significant development for a virus mostly transmitted by mosquitos.
"These are all men in the early stages of infection, meaning that they have the ability to transmit the virus in the first two weeks of it to their wives or partners," Hotez said.

"This is a rare event, but transmission through sex is possible in certain circumstances … However, we should still focus on Zika spreading through mosquitos."

All of the newly-reported cases of sexual transmission have been in the US. There have been no reports of women transmitting Zika to male sex partners.