More than 200,000 members of Brazil’s armed forces were deployed across the country yesterday to hand out millions of leaflets, in an effort to raise awareness about the Zika virus.
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The biggest risk appears to be to pregnant women, due to a link between the virus and the birth defect microcephaly – which causes babies to be born with small heads and under-developed brains.
Researchers have confirmed more than 460 of these cases as microcephaly and identified evidence of Zika infection in 41 of these cases, but have not proven the virus can cause microcephaly.
Some are linking Zika to the birth defect microcephaly and also to a rare nerve disorder called Guillain-Barre.
All day Saturday, Brazil’s soldiers will be distributing pamphlets about how to prevent mosquitoes, and the dangers of Zika and other mosquito-borne illnesses.
Zika is transmitted to people primarily through the bite of an infected mosquito from two species, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, neither of which is common to the Buffalo Niagara region.
The incubation period (the time from exposure to symptoms) of Zika virus disease is not clear, but is likely to be a few days.
While that might offer some comfort, there is justifiable concern – especially for pregnant women. Colombia’s health authorities claim that 29.4% of pregnant women who were infected with Zika virus live in Norte de Santander, which lies in the eastern border of Venezuela.
“The war depends on us”, she said, accompanied by officials, health workers and a swarm of journalists. “We will undoubtedly see many travelers returning to the United States of America with Zika”, Frieden said.
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New data from the Brazilian Ministry of Health suggests that microcephaly cases may be lower than initially reported. In addition, 12,488 cases of the virus has been found in popular Colombian tourist destinations Cartagena and Santa Marta. “Speaking about the treatment, there is no vaccine for Zika, although a race to develop one is underway”, said Gamkrelidze. Brazil usually reports about 150 such cases a year, the AP says. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have labeled Zika a Level 1 threat.
