"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-is-vertical-video-embed="false"
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2017-04-04T20:19:55Z"
data-video-section="health"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2017/04/04/cdc-zika-still-a-threat.cnn"
data-branding-key="unseen-enemy"
data-video-slug="CDC Zika still a threat"
data-first-publish-slug="CDC Zika still a threat"
data-video-tags="animals,centers for disease control and prevention,children,diseases and disorders,health and medical,infants and toddlers,infectious diseases,insects and arachnids,life forms,microscopic life,mosquito-borne diseases,mosquitoes,population and demographics,public health,society,us department of health and human services,us federal departments and agencies,viruses,weather,zika virus"
data-details="">
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-is-vertical-video-embed="false"
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2016-09-07T18:11:53Z"
data-video-section="world"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2016/09/07/singapore-zika-pregnant-tank-pkg.cnn"
data-branding-key=""
data-video-slug="singapore zika pregnant tank pkg"
data-first-publish-slug="singapore zika pregnant tank pkg"
data-video-tags="asia,diseases and disorders,females (demographic group),health and medical,infectious diseases,life forms,maternal and child health,medical fields and specialties,microscopic life,mosquito-borne diseases,obstetrics and gynecology,population and demographics,pregnancy and childbirth,singapore,society,southeast asia,viruses,zika virus"
data-details="">
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-is-vertical-video-embed="false"
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2016-09-02T13:30:49Z"
data-video-section="health"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2016/09/02/zika-spray-killing-honeybees-pkg.wcbd"
data-branding-key=""
data-video-slug="zika spray killing honeybees pkg"
data-first-publish-slug="zika spray killing honeybees pkg"
data-video-tags="animals,bees,diseases and disorders,health and medical,infectious diseases,insects and arachnids,life forms,mosquito-borne diseases,north america,south carolina,southeastern united states,united states,zika virus,agricultural chemicals,agriculture,animals and society,business and industry sectors,business, economy and trade,chemical industry and chemicals,mosquito control,mosquitoes,pesticides,pests and pest control,population and demographics,society"
data-details="">
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-is-vertical-video-embed="false"
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2016-08-03T21:28:01Z"
data-video-section="health"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2016/08/03/u-s-miami-zika-orig.cnn"
data-branding-key=""
data-video-slug="u.s. miami zika orig"
data-first-publish-slug="u.s. miami zika orig"
data-video-tags="centers for disease control and prevention,diseases and disorders,florida,health and medical,infectious diseases,life forms,miami,microscopic life,mosquito-borne diseases,north america,public health,southeastern united states,united states,us department of health and human services,us federal departments and agencies,viruses,zika virus,epidemics and outbreaks,travel alerts,travel and tourism,travel safety and security"
data-details="">
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-is-vertical-video-embed="false"
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2016-08-26T21:17:58Z"
data-video-section="health"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2016/08/26/zika-fda-blood-screening-gupta-sciutto-lead-tell.cnn"
data-branding-key=""
data-video-slug="zika fda blood screening gupta sciutto lead tell"
data-first-publish-slug="zika fda blood screening gupta sciutto lead tell"
data-video-tags="blood banks,blood donations,blood supply,caribbean,diseases and disorders,florida,health and medical,infectious diseases,latin america,life forms,microscopic life,mosquito-borne diseases,north america,public health,puerto rico,sanjay gupta,southeastern united states,united states,us department of health and human services,us federal departments and agencies,us food and drug administration,viruses,zika virus"
data-details="">
Even men who never felt sick are supposed to consider using condoms after travel to these countries. The CDC wants to prevent sexual transmission of Zika, which has been linked to a devastating birth defect and possibly also to miscarriages and stillbirths.
But how can public health officials help make that happen?
‘Important and serious’
“We could make condoms freely available at airports to everyone coming in from those areas. ‘Here, take some!’” suggested Dr. William Schaffner, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and a liaison representative to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
Other public health experts said Schaffner’s idea might be worth a try.
“It would be good symbolically to do this to underscore to people that this is important and serious,” said Dr. Hunter Handsfield, professor emeritus of medicine at the University of Washington Center for AIDS and STD.
“It sounds like a reasonable public health education campaign,” added Dr. Donald Thea, a professor of global health at the Boston University School of Public Health. “It may help get the message to the right audience in a targeted way.”
In a statement, a CDC official was noncommittal about the idea of handing out condoms at airports.
“It’s critical that people have access to condoms,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the CDC. “Appropriate use of condoms can reduce the risk of sexual transmission of Zika from men to their partners,”
The difficulties of a condom campaign
Thea and Handsfield said they weren’t sure a condom campaign would be practical. It could be expensive and unwieldy, given that a huge number of people travel from Zika-affected areas to the United States via plane, cruise ship and automobile. “My gut sense says it’s untenable,” Handsfield said.
Join the conversation
See the latest news and share your comments with CNN Health on Facebook and Twitter.
“I’m not sure how effective handing out condoms at airports will be,” Thea said.
But at the very least, many public health experts said the CDC’s latest condom guidelines should be handed out to travelers coming into the United States from Zika-affected countries.
These guidelines tell male travelers who had Zika, or symptoms of Zika, to consider using condoms or abstaining from sex for at least six months after symptoms began.
Men returning from Zika-affected countries who have not had symptoms of the disease should consider using condoms for at least eight weeks after their return to the United States, and upon their return from traveling, men whose partners are already pregnant should use condoms, according to the guidelines.
