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WHO: SEXUAL TRANSMISSION OF ZIKA MORE COMMON THAN THOUGHT

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BY JAMEY KEATEN AND MARIA CHENG
ASSOCIATED PRESS

GENEVA (AP) — Sexual transmission of the Zika virus is more common than previously thought, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, citing reports from several countries.

After a meeting of its emergency committee on Tuesday, the U.N. health agency also said there is increasing evidence that a spike in disturbing birth defects and neurological problems are caused by Zika, which is mostly spread by mosquito bites. When WHO declared the explosive outbreak in the Americas to be a global emergency last month, it said that the evidence that Zika was responsible was only circumstantial.

https://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_MED_WHO_ZIKA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-03-08-13-44-17

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ZIKA BITE FEAR NOW SPREAD BY SEX

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FRENCH CARIBBEAN FACING ZIKA EPIDEMIC, TAKING EXTRA MEASURES

PARIS (AP) — Two French regions in the Caribbean face an epidemic of the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which was just declared a global public health emergency, and France’s government is sending extra hospital equipment and preparing extra medical staff to combat it, the health minister said Wednesday.

Marisol Touraine told reporters that Martinique and French Guiana have had 2,500 potential cases and about 100 confirmed Zika cases since mid-December, including 20 pregnant women and two people suffering a temporary paralysis condition called Guillain-Barre syndrome.

“Our system of health and sanitary alert is fully mobilized,” Touraine said. “There are three objectives: to prevent, reinforce monitoring and anticipate.”

On Tuesday, the World Health Organization declared Zika a global public health emergency after being linked to brain deformities in babies in South America. Several thousand cases of microcephaly have been reported in Brazil since October, although researchers have so far not proven a definitive link to the virus. No vaccine exists for Zika.

A few cases have been reported in Guadeloupe and Saint Martin, also part of the French Caribbean. Nine people have come to mainland France with Zika this year, but Touraine said there is no risk of epidemic on the mainland.

https://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/Z/ZIKA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-02-03-08-50-09