CDC: Zika Can Be Present In Blood More Than A Week Later

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued updated recommendations on the Zika virus Monday.

In the new recommendations, women including those who are pregnant are told to get tested up to 14 days after they start feeling the symptoms. The new recommendation expands the timeframe from 10 days.

According to the CDC, the expansion of the testing time frame will allow doctors to provide a definite diagnosis for pregnant women infected with the virus.

Zika 101: Prevent Spread By Protecting Yourself

Up until now, scientists thought if a person became sick after being infected with the virus, it would only stay in the person's blood for about a week. New evidence suggests infected pregnant women can have evidence of the virus in their blood for longer than that prompting the time expansion.

The second new recommendation has to do with how to prevent the virus from spreading through sexual contact - specifically through women.

The CDC had previously thought it was a spread from a man to a woman sexually but after a case in New York City indicated  female -to-male sexual transmission, their new recommendation now includes the possibility that a woman could transfer it to her male or female sexual partner.

The virus - which has been linked to birth defects in babies - can also spread through mosquitoes.

The new recommendations come as Florida health officials are trying to find out if two cases - one in Broward County and another in Miami-Dade were acquired locally - meaning the person had not gotten the virus from traveling abroad or from a partner who traveled abroad.

Click here for more information on the Zika virus or here for more Zika-related stories.