The state Department of Health on Thursday began distribution of the kits, which include insect repellents, water tablets for killing mosquito larva, and condoms to prevent sexual transmission of the virus, health officials said in a news release.
All previous reported cases involving sexual transmission have been spread from men to their female sex partners.
The first documented case of the Zika virus being sexually transmitted from a woman to a man has been reported in New York City, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She reported having a headache and abdominal cramps at the airport before coming to NY.
The next day (Day 1), she developed fever, fatigue, a maculopapular rash, myalgia, arthralgia, back pain, swelling of the extremities, and numbness and tingling in her hands and feet; she also started menses that was heavier than normal.
Until this point the CDC's Zika prevention advice has been aimed at sexually active men who travel to Zika outbreak regions and pregnant women or women who want to soon get pregnant.
After the woman developed Zika symptoms, she went to her doctor.
On the heels of new data suggesting the Zika epidemic will last for another 3 years, a new case reveals there may be an additional mode of sexual transmission of the virus.
If the virus was passed along through vaginal fluid, there is very little information on how long it might persist there or how great the risk of transmission during intercourse is. Zika was detected in her blood and urine samples three days after her arrival.
Nineteen cases of Zika have been reported in North Carolina, all of them traveled-related.
Some evidence has shown the virus in urine, saliva, and vaginal fluids of infected women, but sexual transmission was not seen until now. But Brooks said most viruses can travel from both men and women, so the report Friday was "not unexpected".
Scientists do not now know how Zika is fully transmitted or the length of time that a person with this virus will remain infectious.
Even though the Zika virus causes only mild illness in people, it is thought to have devastating effects during pregnancy as the infection may cause microcephaly (severe birth defects) in newborns. Health department officials then confirmed her infection. Her partner tested positive for Zika a week later.
There are new concerns about the spread of Zika, and the seriousness of how this disease can be contained.
Source: ZIKA: Five virus cases confirmed in San Bernardino County
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