Zika Virus March 2016
Notice to Patients 

Zika is a mosquito-borne infection caused by the Zika virus.  Although Zika is usually a non-severe illness concerns have been raised that infection with Zika virus in pregnant women might cause certain congenital abnormalities.  The knowledge about any causal link between Zika virus and these outcomes is evolving and further studies are required.

 Zika virus is transmitted by the bite of an infected female mosquito but;

• There have been recorded incidences of sexually transmitted infection.
• There is evidence that the Zika virus can be found in semen and that it may persist in semen after the acute infection has resolved.
• The Zika virus is likely to survive the freeze and thaw of donated gametes.

We therefore recommend that any person who has travelled to an area where the Zika virus is present should not try to conceive naturally, donate gametes or proceed with fertility treatment for 28 days. This is consistent with the advice being given to potential blood, organ and tissue donors and if you have any questions or concerns please discuss these with your doctor.

As of 1^st March 2016 areas with active Zika virus transmission are: 

Caribbean	Central America	South America	Pacific	Other
Aruba *	Costa Rica *	Bolivia *	American Samoa *	Cape Verde *
Barbados *	El Salvador *	Brazil *	Fiji	Thailand *
Bonaire *	Guatemala *	Colombia *	Marshall Islands *
Curaçao *	Honduras *	Ecuador *	New Caledonia
Dominican Republic *	Mexico *	French Guiana *	Samoa *
Guadeloupe *	Nicaragua *	Guyana *	Solomon Islands
Haiti *	Panama *	Paraguay *	Tonga *
Jamaica *		Suriname *	Vanuatu
Martinique *		Venezuela *
Puerto Rico *
Saint Martin *
Sint Maarten *
St Vincent and the Grenadines *
Trinidad and Tobago *
US Virgin Islands *

* Areas with active transmission in the last two months

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