The Latest: US health officials urge condoms against Zika

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The Latest on efforts to battle the Zika virus (all times local):

2:15 p.m.

U.S. health officials say men who have visited an area with the Zika virus should use condoms if they have sex with a pregnant woman — for the entire duration of the pregnancy.

The guidance issued Friday also says men might consider abstaining or using condoms even if they have sex with a woman who isn’t pregnant.

Zika virus disease is mainly spread by mosquitoes. In most people it causes mild or no symptoms. But it has become a concern because of a possible link with a birth defect in Brazil.

Officials previously recommended pregnant women postpone trips to more than two dozen countries with Zika outbreaks, mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The new guidance is based on two known cases of sexual transmission of the virus

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1:35 p.m.

Now Brazilian officials are saying that pregnant women should think twice before giving a kiss — especially to strangers.

The president of Brazil’s top health research agency says the discovery of active Zika virus in saliva merits special precaution with pregnant women because of suspected links between Zika and birth defects.

Paulo Gadelha suggested pregnant women avoid kissing people other than a regular partner or sharing cutlery, glasses and plates with people who have symptoms of the virus.

He adds, though: “This is not a generalized public health measure, for the love of God.”

Scientists at the Fiocruz institute say they’re trying to determine if the body fluids can spread Zika to new patients.

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12:35 P.M.

The head of a top Brazilian health research institute says its scientists have discovered the presence of active Zika virus in urine and saliva samples.

Paulo Gadelha says that the virus’s ability to infect other people through the two body fluids requires further study.

However he says that the discovery calls for special precaution to be taken with pregnant women. Brazilian researchers have pointed to a suspected link between pregnant women’s infection with the virus and a rare birth defect in babies.

Gadelha says the discovery does not yet merit any additional health recommendation

He spoke Friday at a press conference in Rio de Janeiro.

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11:34 a.m.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights says laws and policies that restrict access to birth control services must be repealed amid the explosive outbreak of the Zika virus in the Americas, which has been linked to an increase in the number of babies born with abnormally small heads.

In a statement issued on Friday, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said the advice of some governments to women to delay getting pregnant “ignores the reality” that many women have little control over the circumstances in which that happens.

To date, the mosquito-borne virus has spread to more than 20 countries in the Americas, including some where sexual violence is rampant, Al Hussein said. He called for laws restricting access to sexual and reproductive health services to be urgently reviewed.

• Health
• Family Health
• pregnant woman
• Zika virus