--- title: Zika Can Spread Sexually From Women to Men description: The first reported case of sexually transmission of Zika from a woman to a man was confirmed in New York City canonical: https://time.com/4407861/zika-spread-sexually-women-men-std/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-15T15:00:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:17:05.754Z article:section: Health og:title: Zika Can Spread Sexually From Women to Men og:description: The first reported case of sexually transmission from woman to man was confirmed og:url: https://time.com/4407861/zika-spread-sexually-women-men-std/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc95ff195039e0a2a/6987788d06f2c104f33333f0/condom-sex-4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: TIME.com stock photos Condoms Sex og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Zika Can Spread Sexually From Women to Men twitter:description: The first reported case of sexually transmission from woman to man was confirmed twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc95ff195039e0a2a/6987788d06f2c104f33333f0/condom-sex-4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Zika Can Spread Sexually From Women to Men > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jul 15, 2016 3:00 PM UTC  Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jul 15, 2016 3:00 PM UTC The first case of [Zika](http://time.com/4406114/zika-funding-bill-fails-as-congress-is-unable-to-reach-compromise/) spreading sexually from a woman to a man has been documented in New York City, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While [Zika](http://time.com/4406314/zika-virus-epidemic-ebola/?p=4406314?xid=tcoshare) is also spread by mosquitoes, the news adds support to the evidence that [sexual transmission of the virus is a threat in the United States](http://time.com/4394141/zika-abortion-usa/). Until Friday, it was unknown whether women could also sexually transmit the virus. The CDC had previously confirmed that a man can spread the disease to female and male partners via vaginal, anal or oral sex without a condom. The virus lasts longer in semen than it does in blood. In the specific case in New York City, a woman in her 20s who was not pregnant reported that she had engaged in sex with a male partner when she returned to the city from a country with ongoing transmission of Zika. At the airport she had developed a headache and abdominal cramping, and later had a fever, fatigue and rash among other symptoms. Her doctor took samples of her blood and urine, and Zika was detected. A week after having sex, the male partner developed a fever, rash, joint pain and eye redness. He visited the same doctor as the woman, and Zika was identified in his urine sample. The man confirmed with health authorities that he had not traveled outside of the U.S. in the year before he got sick. Health authorities have so far reported around 14 cases of sexual transmission of the virus in the U.S. Current recommendations are based on the assumption that men are the ones who pass the virus on sexually, and the CDC says it is currently updating its advice for sexually active couples that are not pregnant or concerned about pregnancy who want to avoid an infection. “CDC recommends that all pregnant women who have a sex partner who has traveled to or resides in an area with Zika use barrier methods every time they have sex or they should not have sex during the pregnancy,” the agency said in a statement. The CDC adds that while woman to woman transmission has not yet been documented, that advice applies to female sexual partners of women who are pregnant as well. It’s unknown whether Zika can be passed during kissing through saliva, or if the virus has a different risk for birth defects if it’s passed to a pregnant woman via sex versus from a mosquito. In the U.S. there are over 1,000 cases of Americans with Zika, including around 346 pregnant women. Over 300 additional pregnant women in U.S. territories are also infected. On Thursday [Senate failed to pass any emergency Zika funding](http://time.com/4406114/zika-funding-bill-fails-as-congress-is-unable-to-reach-compromise/?xid=tcoshare), and will recess until September. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4407861/zika-spread-sexually-women-men-std/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4407861/zika-spread-sexually-women-men-std/"},"headline":"Zika Can Spread Sexually From Women to Men","datePublished":"2016-07-15T15:00:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:17:05.754Z","description":"The first reported case of sexually transmission from a woman to a man was confirmed in New York City","url":"https://time.com/4407861/zika-spread-sexually-women-men-std/","keywords":["Zika","Zika virus"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc95ff195039e0a2a/6987788d06f2c104f33333f0/condom-sex-4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc95ff195039e0a2a/6987788d06f2c104f33333f0/condom-sex-4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TIME.com stock photos Condoms Sex","caption":"TIME.com stock photos Condoms Sex","creditText":"Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/zika/","name":"Zika"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4407861/zika-spread-sexually-women-men-std/","name":"Zika Can Spread Sexually From Women to Men"}}]}] ```