Two cases of the Zika virus were reported in Germany as recently as December, but experts say that the spread of the mosquito-borne virus is “extremely” unlikely. No cases are confirmed yet.
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Later Friday, the White House said Rousseff and President Barack Obama discussed their concerns about the spread of the Zika virus in a telephone conversation. Common symptoms include fever, red eyes, a rash, and joint pain. The German Foreign Ministry issued a statement in December saying that pregnant women “should not if possible make unnecessary trips to areas of the Zika outbreak”. From the government of El Salvador putting the onus of protection squarely on the shoulders of citizens by advising women not to get pregnant for two years, to gaps in the delivery of eradication campaigns in hard-to-reach neighborhoods or due to high levels of violence, Zika remains a potent threat. “You never know. It may happen one day”.
Experts further believe mosquito control efforts in the United States significantly reduce chances for the kind outbreaks that have occurred in the other countries. Colombian officials say they’ve recorded more than 13,500 suspected cases and President Juan Manuel Santos said there could be 600,000 cases by year’s end. Other mosquito species that were collected and tested for West Nile virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis in past years will also be tested for the Zika virus.
According to Margaret Chan, WHO’s Director-General, the virus is “spreading explosively” throughout the Americas.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control says the disease is now in more than 20 countries, mostly in Central and South America.
Venezuelan Health Minister Luisana Melo said her country’s seen 255 cases of Guillain-Barre, apparently as part of its effort to fight Zika, though she did not specify the link or the time frame. All those infected had contracted the virus while travelling overseas.
Dr. Saul said pregnant women are at highest risk.
In a letter to the editor published last week by the British journal The Lancet, Ventura and her team alerted the medical community to the eyesight problems found in Brazilian children with microcephaly thought to be caused by a Zika infection caught by mothers in the early stages of their pregnancies.
She said that unless all of society mobilizes to eliminate the pools of stagnant water in which the mosquito breeds, Brazil will lose the war against the insect.
“The Florida Keys has the most intensive urban mosquito program of anywhere in the country, perhaps in the world, per square mile”, said Doyle.
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“The mosquito has been here in Brazil for three decades, and we are badly losing the battle against the mosquito”, Folha de S. Paulo newspaper quoted him as saying as a crisis group on Zika was meeting in the capital, Brasilia.
