Zika Alert for Healthcare Providers

Posted Aug. 10, 2018. Past health advisories and alerts are archived for historical purposes and are not maintained or updated.

CDC now recommends that men take extra precautions after Zika virus exposure.

CDC has updated interim guidance for men with possible Zika virus exposure. This guidance applies to men who plan to conceive with their partner and to men who wish to prevent sexually transmitting Zika at any time. CDC recommends that men wait at least three months to engage in unprotected sex after symptom onset (if symptoms are present) or last possible exposure (travel to or living in areas where active cases of Zika virus are present).

Published in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), these recommendations are based on emerging data that suggest risk associated with infectious Zika virus in semen appears to decline substantially within three months of symptom onset. All other Zika guidance remains unchanged.

Men who 1) may have been exposed to Zika virus and, 2) whose partner is pregnant, should use condoms or wait to have sex for the entire pregnancy to reduce the risk of transmission.

Spokane Regional Health District Zika for Healthcare Providers Page

CDC provides the following guidance for expectant parents with risk of Zika virus exposure.

• For more information about Zika virus and pregnancy, visit https://www.cdc.gov/pregnancy/zika/.
• For more information about CDC’s guidance on care of infants and children born to mothers with possible Zika virus infections during pregnancy, visit https://www.cdc.gov/pregnancy/zika/testing-follow-up/infants-children.html.
• For information on CDC’s guidance for women and their partners trying to become pregnant after possible Zika virus exposure, visit https://www.cdc.gov/pregnancy/zika/women-and-their-partners.html.