No cases are confirmed yet. While a direct causal relationship has not been established, scientists strongly suspect a link between Zika and thousands of children born in Brazil with abnormally small heads, brain defects and impaired vision.
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When Ebola spread across west Africa and the WHO for too long failed to call an worldwide health emergency, there was no doubt the virus was killing people in a awful way and that the infection was being passed from one person to another.
Deyalsingh said a rapid response unit was being set up to tackle the zika virus aggressively. Another private vaccine developer, Boston-based Replikins Ltd, said it was preparing to start animal studies on a Zika vaccine in the next 10 days. He said they are hopeful Brazil may have data to share in a couple of months.
“What we are seeing, the handful of cases we’ve had are imported”, said Coastal Health District Health Director Doctor Diane Weems. Many of those who get Zika can recover quickly from only mild symptoms, and across the Americas, hospitals do not have the clinical testing materials to quickly and definitively determine whether a patient is infected. Those areas include Mexico and parts of Central and South America. We know that the GMO mosquito’s objective is to infect the egg (foetus) of the female mosquito and kill it in the larvae stage.
The mosquito-borne virus has been identified in nine New Yorkers who recently returned from countries where the virus is actively being transmitted.
Rousseff s office said the bilateral group would “develop a partnership in the production of vaccines and therapeutics”.
It says travellers visiting the affected areas should take protective measures to prevent mosquito bites, including using insect repellent, screened doors and windows, and mosquito nets, as well as wearing protective clothing. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) assured teams on Friday the Olympics would be safe from Zika, but urged visitors to carefully protect themselves.
Bach said the IOC is working in close contact with the Brazilian authorities to make sure the most up-to-date information regarding the virus and its prevention are disseminated to the relevant worldwide bodies. “We need vaccine platforms that can be quickly modified for protection against emerging new threats, and we need broad-spectrum antiviral drugs effective against whole classes of viruses”.
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Chan said: “We’ve actually known of zika’s existence for decades, but it wasn’t a major concern to humans until an outbreak hit the Pacific islands in 2007”.
