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 The disclosure of the blood transfusion cases in the industrial city
of Campinas near Sao Paulo came two days after Texas authorities
said a person became infected through sex. Concern over the virus is
mounting as Brazil prepares to host the Olympic Games in August,
with tens of thousands of athletes and tourists anticipated.
There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika, which has caused
outbreaks in at least 26 countries in the Americas. Brazil
researchers hope to develop a treatment that could be tested in
humans in a year.
Dr. Marcelo Addas Carvalho, director of the blood center at the
University of Campinas, said genetic testing confirmed that a man
who received a blood transfusion from a Zika-infected man in March
2015 became infected with the virus, although he did not develop
symptoms.
Another man, who had suffered gunshot wounds, became infected with
Zika after receiving multiple blood transfusions that included blood
donated by an infected person in April 2015, Carvalho said.
Carvalho said that infection probably was caused by the transfusion
but genetic tests have not yet been conducted to confirm it. He said
it was very unlikely the infection was caused by a mosquito bite
because the patient was in a hospital intensive care unit for three
months.
The patient later died from his gunshot wounds and not the Zika
infection, health officials and Carvalho said.
Carvalho sought to downplay the Zika threat arising from blood
transfusions, saying such transmission of the virus is very rare and
not an important factor in the outbreak.
"Governments and society in general should focus on eliminating the
mosquito, which is the main form of transmission," Carvalho added.
Brazil estimates that up to 1.5 million people have been infected in
the country. Brazil is investigating more than 4,000 suspected cases
of microcephaly, a condition in which infants are born with
abnormally small heads and can suffer developmental problems, that
may be linked to Zika.
Researchers have identified evidence of Zika infection in 17 of
these cases, either in the baby or in the mother, but have not
confirmed that Zika can cause microcephaly.
The World Health Organization declared a global health emergency
related to Zika on Monday, citing the microcephaly threat.
FLORIDA EXPANDS EMERGENCY DECLARATION
Florida Governor Rick Scott on Thursday expanded a Zika public
health emergency in the state, adding a fifth locale, Broward
County, to the four counties he announced on Wednesday.
"With over 20 million residents and 100 million tourists, we must
stay ahead of the possible spread of the Zika virus and take
immediate action to ensure Florida is prepared," Scott said.
Florida Senator Bill Nelson, a Democrat, called for President Barack
Obama to appoint a Zika "czar" to coordinate the federal
government's response as Obama did during the Ebola outbreak last
year.
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Sexual contact and blood transfusions as modes of transmission have
been matters of concern for experts since the Zika outbreak's
outset, said infectious diseases expert Dr. William Schaffner of the
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee.
But Schaffner questioned whether either will lead to widespread Zika
transmission.
"A little bit of transmission? Sure," Schaffner said. "But the main
engine of transmission that has led this virus to be spread widely
throughout Central and South America and the Caribbean is, of
course, the mosquito."
Procedures for blood donations have been tightened in countries
including Brazil to protect blood supplies from Zika. U.S. health
officials are still working on national guidelines.
Following word of the Texas case on Tuesday, U.S. health officials
urged the use of condoms to prevent spreading sexually transmitted
infections.
Brazil said it was reinforcing instructions to blood banks that
people infected with Zika or dengue not be permitted to donate blood
for 30 days after full recovery from the active stage of Zika
infection.
The American Red Cross has urged prospective donors who have visited
Zika outbreak zones to wait at least 28 days before giving blood,
but called the risk of transmitting it through blood donations
"extremely" low in the continental United States.
In the Texas case, authorities said a person in Dallas became
infected with Zika after having sex with another person who had
traveled in Venezuela, where the virus is circulating.
Local health officials said on Thursday both those people have fully
recovered from the virus.
Schaffner said uncertainties remain about sexual transmission of the
virus, including how long a person might be able to transmit it or
whether an infected person must have had symptomatic Zika in order
to be able to transmit Zika through sex. Most infected people do not
develop any symptoms.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo expanded his state's free Zika
testing to include all pregnant women who have traveled to countries
where people have been infected.
(Reporting by Anthony Boadle in Brasilia; Additional reporting by
Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas and Letitia Stein in Tampa; Writing
by Will Dunham, Lisa Shumaker; Editing by Michele Gershberg, Grant
McCool and Bernard Orr)
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