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The Zika virus can be transmitted by anal sex as well as vaginal sex, according to a report issued on Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency described a case of man-to-man sexual transmission in January. The case, which was previously disclosed by health officials in Texas without identifying the genders of the partners, was the first known case of sexual transmission of Zika within the United States in the current epidemic. It involved a Dallas resident who became infected with Zika through a mosquito bite while visiting Venezuela and then infected his male partner through unprotected sex upon his return. Both had relatively mild symptoms, and blood was not detected in either man’s semen. (McNeil, 4/14)

Semen samples from both patients showed no evidence of the virus, so it is still unclear how long the virus persists and how it is shed from semen, said John T. Brooks, a co-author of the report and a medical epidemiologist in the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention at the CDC’s National Center for HIV, Hepatitis, TB and STD Prevention. Dr. Brooks said the case study should encourage doctors to report any suspected cases of Zika to health officials. “Every piece of data we have helps,” he said. (Long, 4/14)

During a previous outbreak, the virus was detected in the semen of one man two months after his fever had set in. In a more recent case, researchers found the virus in the semen of a French traveler two weeks after he'd been sick (there was a lot more virus in semen than there was in blood or urine, leading them to wonder if the virus can replicate in the male genital tract). (Bichell, 4/14)

As the Zika virus bears down on the United States, federal health officials are divided over a politically and ethically charged question: Should they advise American women to delay pregnancy in areas where the virus is circulating? Some infectious disease experts are arguing that avoiding conception is the only sure way to prevent the births of deformed babies, according to outside researchers who serve on various advisory panels. Women’s health specialists, on the other hand, counter that the government should not tell women what to do with their bodies. (McNeil, 4/14)

The White House has found an unexpected ally in its fight to get Congress to approve $1.9 billion in emergency funding to fight the Zika virus: former Republican presidential contender Marco Rubio. (Haberkorn, 4/14)

The White House and GOP leaders are pointing fingers over the stalled effort to increase funding for the fight against the Zika virus. The Obama administration has ramped up attacks on Republicans this week, accusing them of holding up billions of dollars needed to prevent a widespread outbreak of the disease. But House leaders say the Obama administration has actually delayed the funding by ignoring recent letters and refusing to answer questions about what one lawmaker called a $2 billion "slush fund." (Ferris, 4/14)

Florida health officials, contending with the greatest number of Zika virus infections in the nation, confirmed two new cases in Miami-Dade on Thursday, raising the statewide total to 87 people affected by the infectious disease since February. Among the 15 counties identified as having had Zika virus infections, Miami-Dade has experienced the most, with 35 cases. Nearly all of Florida’s cases were acquired by people traveling outside the country, except for one case of sexual transmission in Polk County. (Chang, 4/14)

A Summit County resident has tested positive for the Zika virus after traveling to a Zika-infected country, the Summit County Public Health department said Thursday. (Farkas, 4/14)