Can Zika Be Sexually Transmitted? CDC Director Weighs In
Zika has been sexually transmitted in Texas, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday -- and director Dr. Thomas Frieden told the FOX Business Network’s Stuart Varney it’s not the first time it’s happened.
“We have seen actually previously one case of apparent sexual transmission of Zika years back, so we know it’s possible, and we had reports yesterday from Dallas with a test confirmed in our laboratory at the CDC of someone who was not a traveler developing Zika presumably, apparently from sexual transmission,” he said.
Although Frieden confirmed these findings, he offered some solace on the matter.
“The bottom line still with Zika is that it’s overwhelmingly spread by mosquitos and the key lesson, the key message is that if you’re pregnant and you’re thinking of traveling to a place that has Zika spreading -- don’t go. If you’re pregnant and you live in a place where Zika is spreading use mosquito repellent, protect yourself, stay indoors, air-conditioned space if you can to reduce the risk that you’ll get bitten by a mosquito,” he said.
Additionally he discussed how the Chipotle (NYSE:CMG) E. coli outbreak is over even though the original source of contamination has not been identified.
“It’s not unusual with outbreaks particularly if you have a large number of items that are included in a single meal because it’s quite hard to track that back weeks or months later.”
When asked about using radiation to make our food supply safer he said, “There are lots of different ways to get our food supply safer. It’s already quite safe but we have to look at every aspect from the farm to the table to make sure that we are looking at the processes and reducing the risk of contamination at each step…There are some roles for radiation in some food instances -- but not for everything. There’s no quick fix here.”