Saskatchewan may have Canada’s first case of Zika transmitted through sex
Posted March 24, 2016 4:45 pm.
Last Updated March 24, 2016 5:12 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
REGINA – Health officials in Saskatchewan say they are investigating Canada’s first possible case of the Zika virus being spread through sex.
Dr. Denise Werker, Saskatchewan’s deputy chief medical health officer, says a woman is believe to have contracted the virus after having sex with a man who had travelled to a country where Zika is prevalent.
Werker says the case has yet to be confirmed, but she wanted to release the information to make sure people take the proper precautions during the March-break travel season.
She says Zika virus can live much longer in semen than it does in the blood and it’s recommended men use condoms for six months after travelling to an affected country.
The mosquito-borne virus has been potentially linked in Brazil to thousands of cases of newborns with abnormally small heads.
Cases of Zika have reached epidemic levels in that country, most of South America, throughout Central America, parts of Mexico and much of the Caribbean.
