The Zika virus is thought to have entered the country two years later in 2014.
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“Our knowledge of what is now in the pipeline tells us that it will take approximately 18 months before a vaccine can be launched into large-scale trial to demonstrate efficacy”, Ms Kieny said.
While most people infected with Zika have only mild symptoms, rising anxiety about the virus is driven by its strongly suspected link to the two more serious conditions.
Reasearchers have reported that large numbers of babies with borderline normal head sizes were born in Brazil as far back as 2012.
Furthermore, a new study has found babies with microcephaly may be at greater risk of eye abnormalities, that can result in blindness.
Guillain-Barre syndrome, in which the body’s immune system attacks part of the nervous system, causes gradual weakness in the legs, arms and upper body and sometimes total paralysis.
Zika has spread rapidly through Latin America and the Caribbean, with Brazil worst-hit, followed by Colombia.
“Conversation: Zika’s Potential Impact is republished with permission of Stratfor”.
“Two vaccine candidates seem to be more advanced”.
An additional ten companies are also in the process of various stages of development.
Eight things you need to know about Zika virus.
For this reason, preventative measures, including chemical prophylaxis, “would be preferrable to treatment”, the World Health Organization expert said.
Prophylaxis treatment is where a healthy person takes medicine to prevent the transmission of a disease. Three cases of Zika virus were recorded in the USA state of Florida on January 20, 2016 in people who had recently travelled in Latin America, health authorities said.
The Hyderabad, India-based Bharat Biotech sequenced the genome for Chikungunya, another mosquito-borne virus, in India a decade ago, Bharat Biotech’s chief executive officer, Krishna Ella, said in an interview earlier this month.
There is now no vaccine or drug to stop its spread.
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But, she said, the emergency R&D response systems set up following the Ebola epidemic in West Africa was proving useful and the response to Zika was “proceeding very quickly”.
