Brazil is investigating the potential link between Zika infections and more than 4,300 suspected cases of the birth defect, a condition marked by abnormally small head size that can result in developmental problems.
Advertisement
New figures from Brazil’s Health Ministry show that the Zika virus outbreak has not caused as many confirmed cases of a rare brain defect as first feared.
Zika has spread from Brazil throughout Latin America, prompting the World Health Organization to declare an global public health emergency.
The Aedes genus mosquito has been identified as the carrier of the virus, but Zika transmission through sexual contact, blood transfusions or rarely from mother to child around the time of birth, is possible as well.
The CDC has said it does not expect the Zika virus to become widespread in the United States. If they must go, they should have an ultrasound test after their return whether they suspect they might have been infected with the Zika virus or not.
With the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio this year, the U.S. Olympic Committee is hiring infectious disease specialists to assess the risks to American athletes headed to Brazil.
The Assistant Director General of WHO for health systems and innovation, Marie-Paule Kieny, nevertheless ensures that the agency acts very quickly with the collaboration of 15 groups or companies that have been selected for vaccine development.
The total number of people diagnosed in Colombia has reached 31,555, the institute said in its Epidemiology Bulletin, among them 5,013 pregnant women. Local media reported what they said was the first abortion in the country because of Zika last week. Wadsworth is one of only three state laboratories in the country equipped to perform the screening and confirmatory tests of Zika antibodies and other related viruses.
“(But) 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”, Kieny told reporters in Geneva.
MOH says the Health Unit isn’t too concerned about the virus, advises caution.
The case involved a 68-year-old man who was infected with Zika in 2014 while traveling. Members of the armed forces, accompanied by community health agents and mosquito control teams, are expected to visit some three million homes this weekend in order to educate the population on how to eliminate the mosquitos responsible for transmitting the virus.
Advertisement
The Zika virus, which is now spreading throughout the Western Hemisphere, typically only causes mild symptoms.
