The $622 million GOP plan would provide one-third of the resources requested three months ago by President Barack Obama to combat the virus, which can cause severe birth defects and other health problems.
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“With this risk assessment, World Health Organization wants to inform and target preparedness work in each European country based on its level of risk”.
The WHO said travelers returning to Europe in late spring and summer from areas where Zika is swirling could spark local transmission, because mosquito populations be flourishing and biting.
A new risk assessment issued by the organisation’s regional office says t he overall risk across Europe is said to be “low to moderate”.
Dr. Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director for Europe.
The UK is already on alert for people coming home from overseas with the Zika virus.
The virus has also been linked to Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a rare disease in which a person’s own immune system damages the nerve cells, causing muscular weakness and, in some cases, paralysis.
Frieden said in an interview with The Associated Press that the House measure would hamper the CDC’s ability to monitor women and babies with the virus over coming years, fight the mosquitoes that spread it, and develop better diagnostic tests.
Women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant have been advised to avoid parts of South and Central America because of the virus. IN has confirmed six cases of Zika virus this year – all have been associated with global travel.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said the mosquito type has been recently reported in Madeira, the Netherlands and the north-eastern Black Sea coast (southern Russian Federation and Georgia), Sky News reported on Wednesday.
In late spring and summer, the risk for spread of Zika virus increases.
As of May 11 2016, 58 countries and territories are reporting continuing mosquito transmission of the Zika virus.
The latest figures show a total of 25 cases diagnosed in United Kingdom travellers since 2015.
He said: “Summer is approaching fast and the risk of Zika spreading to Europe is real”.
Officials counted 409 travel-related cases of Zika in 17 European countries as of mid-April, including 23 cases in pregnant women.
France is the most likely to have a Zika outbreak among those countries with a moderate risk, because of factors including the density of its urban population, WHO Europe said.
Asked whether they were engaging with WHO on the issue of Zika, Dr Nedret Emiroglu, who heads WHO Europe’s division of communicable diseases and health security, said: “We are in close touch with them.” they and Madeira have been invited to a meeting in Portugal in June to discuss the control of Zika across the region.
Experts predict that Zika virus will spread to all countries in the Americas (including the Caribbean), with the exception of Chile and Canada.
People travelling to all areas at risk of infection are being told to pay attention to health advice.
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“As of May 11, 2016, there were more than 1,200 confirmed Zika cases in the continental United States and U.S. territories, including over 110 pregnant women with confirmed cases of the Zika virus”, said a White House statement.
