"Dallas County Health and Human Services has received
confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the first
Zika virus case acquired through sexual transmission in Dallas County in
2016," the department said a statement.
Zachary Thompson, the health
department's director, said the case proved that Zika could be transmitted
sexually.
“Now that we know Zika virus can be transmitted through sex,
this increases our awareness campaign in educating the public about protecting
themselves and others,” he said. “Next to abstinence, condoms are the best
prevention method against any sexually-transmitted infections.”
A total of 31 people in the US are
believed to have been diagnosed with Zika in the US in the past 12 months, but
all of those cases originated in Central and South America, where the virus is
more prevalent.
Symptoms are typically mild in
adults, but babies whose mothers have contacted the disease can be born with
smaller heads and brains.
Brazil has
been the country worst-affected by Zika, though the virus has been reported in
more than 20 countries.
Both on their wedding day
