Brazil is investigating the potential link between Zika infections and more than 4,000 suspected cases of microcephaly, a condition marked by abnormally small head size that can result in developmental problems.
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JILL HENNESSY: A Victorian woman has been diagnosed this week with Zika virus after recently returning from a country where Zika virus is prevalent.
WHO also issued updated guidelines about travel to Zika-affected areas, saying pregnant women should consult with their health care providers and should “consider delaying travel to any area where locally acquired Zika infection is occurring”.
Health authorities are warning pregnant Australian women not to go to countries where they risk catching the Zika virus.
British health officials reported on Friday that the virus was found in the semen of a British man two months after he was first infected, suggesting it may linger in the semen long after symptoms of the infection fade.
She says scientists also are trying to see whether recent cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare disorder that attacks the nervous system, is caused by the Zika virus.
The World Health Organization says possible Zika vaccines are at least 18 months away from large-scale trials. On Thursday, the government said it had identified a third death linked to the virus, but stressed it was impossible to say if it was the sole cause.
Political fights over abortion and the Zika virus are brewing in other countries. The guidelines came after a Dallas resident was infected by having sex with a person who had contracted the disease while traveling in Venezuela.
Pesticide spraying has being stepped up across the Americas, particularly in countries with the highest number of reported Zika cases: Colombia and Brazil.
Bharat had already been working on a Zika virus vaccine, spurred by the prevalence of dengue fever and chikungungya, which are both spread by the same mosquito carriers as Zika, the company told The Wall Street Journal last week. Today, Mayor Bill de Blasio said that while there is now no risk of contracting the virus in the city, experts are concerned about what might happen with the onset of mosquito season this spring.
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“Further studies in the years 1975 to 1979 show that 40% of Nigerian adults and 25% of Nigerian children have antibodies to Zika Virus, meaning they are protected against this virus”.
