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| A couple kisses during the "Carmelitas" block party, during Carnival celebrations in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 5, 2016. Top Brazilian Health officials said this Friday that the active Zika virus has been found in urine and saliva samples, cautioning that further study is needed to determine whether the mosquito-borne virus in those body fluids is capable of infecting people. |
RIO DE
JANEIRO (AP) -- In a sign of mounting global concern over the
Zika virus, health officials on Friday warned pregnant women to think
twice about the lips they kiss and called on men to use condoms
with
pregnant partners if they have visited countries where the virus is
present.
U.N. officials also called on many
Catholic-majority countries in Latin America to loosen their abortion
laws to allow women to terminate pregnancies if they fear the fetus may
be at risk for a rare birth defect that causes brain damage and an
abnormally small head, which may be linked to the virus.
The
flurry of recommendations began in Brazil, where a top health official
warned pregnant women to be cautious with their kisses.
Paulo
Gadelha, president of the Fiocruz research institute, told a news
conference that scientists have found live virus in saliva and urine
samples, and the possibility it could be spread by the two body fluids
requires further study.
He said that calls for
pregnant women to take special precautions, and suggested they avoid
kissing people other than a regular partner or sharing cutlery, glasses
and plates with people who have symptoms of the virus.
"This
is not a generalized public health measure, for the love of God," he
added, stressing both the seriousness of the discovery and reality that
it was too soon to say how it could impact the epidemic.
Friday's
announcement coincided with the start of Carnival, a five-day
bacchanalia that sees millions of people take part in alcohol-fueled
parties where kissing as many people as possible is a top pastime.
Gadelha underscored that the discovery needn't alter Carnival plans for
anyone but pregnant women.
He also stressed
that the Aedes aegpyti mosquito, which spreads dengue, chikungunya and
yellow fever as well as Zika, remains the virus' main vector and said
the fight against the mosquito should be a top priority.
The
Fiocruz team studied samples from two patients who showed symptoms of
Zika and tested positive for the illness. Tests on cell cultures showed
the virus in the samples was capable of damaging the cells, meaning it
was active.
Myrna Bonaldo, who headed the
Fiocruz team behind the discovery, said she was particularly surprised
the virus was found in urine because Zika is generally thought not to
thrive in acidic mediums.
"Each discovery is a
surprise and a new find for us," she said. "For us scientists, it's
extremely challenging to understand Zika virus."
Experts
greeted Friday's announcement with caution, saying the sample size was
small and noting little is known about how the virus spreads.
Still, Dr. Elizabeth Talbot, a professor of infectious diseases at Dartmouth College, said it "does create further concern."
"This virus is clearly throwing one curve ball after the other," she said.
Asked
about the guidance to pregnant women, Dr. Susan Donelan, medical
director of the epidemiology department at Stony Brook University
Hospital, said: "I can understand the Brazilian Health Ministry being
concerned about not leaving out any potential mechanism for
transmission, even if it's theoretical."
"Brazil is in a particularly difficult position" given the scope of the country's microcephaly outbreak, she said.
Meanwhile,
in Geneva, spokeswoman Cecile Pouilly said the U.N. High Commissioner
for Human Rights was asking governments in Zika-affected countries in
Latin America and the Caribbean to repeal any policies that restrict
access to sexual and reproductive health services, including abortion.
"How can they ... not offer (women) ... the possibility to stop their pregnancies if they wish?" she said.
Pouilly
gave the example of El Salvador, where about a quarter of women had
experienced physical or sexual violence in the past year.
"So
that also shows that many of these pregnancies are out of their control
and countries obviously have to take that into account," she said.
Pouilly said that safe abortion services should be provided to the full
extent of the law. "The key point is that women should have the choice
and (make) informed decisions," she said.
The
National Conference of Bishops in Brazil, the South American country
hardest hit by Zika, had no immediate comment on calls to loosen
abortion laws. However, in a statement issued Thursday, the bishops said
that the World Health Organization's declaration earlier this week that
Zika was an international emergency didn't justify abortion.
Meanwhile,
U.S. health officials said men who have visited an area with Zika
should use condoms if they have sex with a pregnant woman - for the
entire duration of the pregnancy.
The guidance
issued Friday also says men might consider abstaining or using condoms
even if they have sex with a woman who isn't pregnant.
Zika
virus disease is mainly spread by mosquitoes. But U.S. health officials
detected a case of sexual transmission of the disease in Texas this
week and in Brazil, officials said they had confirmed the virus was
contracted via blood transfusions. For most people who catch the virus,
it causes mild or no symptoms.
U.S. officials
have recommended pregnant women postpone trips to more than two dozen
countries with
Zika outbreaks, mostly in Latin America and the
Caribbean. Several Latin American nations have urged women to postpone
pregnancies.
To date, the mosquito-borne virus has spread to more than 20 countries in the Americas.
One
of those is Colombia, where health officials announced Friday that
three people had died of Guillain-Barre syndrome after contracting the
Zika virus. The country's National Health Institute director, Martha
Lucia Ospina, said all three victims were confirmed to have been
infected with Zika, adding that their deaths show the virus can kill.
Still,
most international experts are cautious about whether Zika can trigger
Guillain-Barre, a rare syndrome that causes paralysis, because other
infections and conditions can lead to the illness.
