Drawing on lessons learned from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014, the High Commissioner highlighted that another crucial element of the response should be the systematic dissemination of accurate information on how Zika spreads, how to prevent it and its health consequences. Zika virus has presented particular concern for women who are or plan to become pregnant and their babies, but the virus has the potential to make others ill as well.
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The government has said pregnant women with Zika are eligible to access much-restricted abortion services. In El Salvador, one of the countries warning against pregnancy, abortion is punishable by up to 40 years in prison.
Malinoa Fainu, from Ha’ateiho village, said she’d heard about the disease on television and is trying to take precautions.
“The measures are the classic ones used… for various other diseases that can be transmitted by saliva”.
He spoke Friday at a press conference in Rio de Janeiro. Zika has been spreading quickly in parts of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Colombia said Friday that three people had died after contracting the Zika virus and developing a rare nerve disorder called Guillain-Barre, the first time health officials have directly blamed the mosquito-borne disease for causing deaths.
Colombia’s health minister believes there could be a causal connection between Zika and Guillan-Barre (gillan barray) Syndrome – a rare, but serious condition that can cause paralysis.
That followed a similar emergency declaration in the state of Florida.
Zika virus is transmitted to people primarily through the bite of an infected mosquito.
Colombia has been hit hardest by the Zika outbreak of any country except Brazil, with more than 20,000 cases, including more than 2,000 pregnant women.
Once infected, only about one in five people with Zika ever shows symptoms, which most commonly include fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes.
Brazil has seen 4,783 suspected cases of babies born with small brains, although only 404 of them have been confirmed, 709 have been rejected and 3,670 are still being investigated.
The head of a top Brazilian health research institute says its scientists have discovered the presence of active Zika virus in urine and saliva samples.
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Puerto Rican health authorities have reported three new cases of Zika, raising the total to 22.
