Health

Now Women Can Spread The Zika Virus To Men; A New York Case Confirms It

ST. CROIX -- With a sharp increase of the Zika virus affecting the territory this week -- the Department of Health reported 15 news cases late Tuesday -- it has now been confirmed that women can spread the virus to men, the first case being documented in New York City. The confirmation raises the prospect that the disease could spread more widely beyond the countries where it is already endemic and largely transmitted by mosquitoes, including neighboring island Puerto Rico. For months, there has been growing concern about the dangers of sexual transmission, but until now the virus has been thought to pass only from men to women or between two men. “This represents the first reported occurrence of female-to-male sexual transmission of Zika virus,” said a report issued on Friday by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. In the report, researchers found that a man, who was in his 20s and did not travel outside ...