A quick note: Our local TV news reported briefly on the CDC's statement today about Zika. More details from CNN:
CDC investigates 14 more possible cases of sexually transmitted Zika virus.
Several - an unspecified number - were pregnant women. Two cases are women who had sexual contact with a man who returned from a place where the Zika outbreak. Lab results are pending for four, another eight are under investigation. There are also additional reports of Zika connected with Guillain-Barré syndrome
Zika has been linked to birth defects. Now it may be causing paralysis. including not just paralysis. In Colombia, at least three deaths were reported. These seem to be happening in both males and females.
It seems to me only a matter of time before a case of transmission from man to man is reported. Although the risks to Zika-infected pregnant women and their babies are much more significant than to the seemingly rare Guillain-Barré connection causing complications, it's something to think about. As mentioned earlier, Zika has not just been found in blood and semen but also saliva.
I'm considering posting a link to this discussion on the sidebar of the CRUISING for ESCORTS site, possibly also a link to the current discussion of married men having sex with men.
The point of all this is to provide information that people cane factor into their decisions, As I've said before, I generally don't advise people on what to do with their sex partners and how to handle risk. I
do want people to have the information needed to make their own decision if desired.
Separately, our local news reported on the
First hospital-based rapid tests for Zika virus unveiled in Houston. This rapid test is currently available at the two hospitals that worked together to develop it. They say the two facilities plan to accept referrals from other facilities. Hopefully they will release the test itself to other facilities sooner rather than later.
Finally, although mosquito season has not quite arrived in Greater Houston, the authorities are taking aggressive steps to clean up things like old tires and such that can harbor standing water that often is a mosquito hiding and breeding grounds.
~ Bob S.