According to the World Health Organization, about ten countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific have reported cases of the mosquito-borne Zika virus infection.
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Cape Verde’s health ministry said on Sunday concerns prompted by a U.S.travel alert were overblown and that the number of cases of the Zika virus in the West African island nation was on the decline.
Identifying the Zika virus may take a couple of days and symptoms are homogeneous of other arbovirus infections, such as fever, skin rashes, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise and headaches.
It advised pregnant women planning to travel to areas where Zika is circulating to consult a healthcare provider before travelling and on return.
A man walks away from his home with his son as health workers fumigates the Altos del Cerro neighbourhood as part of preventive measures against the Zika virus and other mosquito-borne diseases in Soyapango, El Salvador January 21, 2016.
Brazil reported the first cases of local transmission of the virus in May 2015.
The rapid spread of the virus, which generally only causes mild symptoms, can be attributed to the fact that people in countries such as Brazil had not previously been exposed to the virus.
The virus is transmitted through mosquito bites, so prevention entails fighting mosquitoes and avoiding contact with them. They report that 1 in 5 people infected with the virus, become ill.
The World Health Organization anticipates that the Zika virus will spread to all but two countries in South, Central and North America. The connection to Zika is still being investigated, and health officials note there are many causes of the condition, including genetics, and exposure during pregnancy to alcohol and certain germs and toxic chemicals. Lastly, a previous version of this article stated the Zika virus causes microcephaly if pregnant women are infected.
The disease spread swiftly, hitting hardest the poor and underdeveloped region in the country’s northeast. Microcephaly is a birth defect that results in babies born with abnormally small heads.
“Until November we knew nothing, this has caught us by surprise and we’re trying to learn as fast as we can”, Rodrigues said.
The disease is not contagious – ie it can’t spread between victims – and is spread by the same mosquito that carries dengue fever and yellow fever.
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Speaking in Geneva, Director General of the WHO Margaret Chan said she was “very concerned” by the outbreak and by the possibility that it could lead to “neurological syndromes” – although she gave no further details. Follow Yahoo Health on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.
