The Pan American Health Organization and World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), this week, recommended that countries in Latin America and the Caribbean be on watch for occurrences of the Zika virus, now rampant in the region. The virus, which is spread by mosquitoes, turned up in Brazil.
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Colombia has the second highest infection rate after Brazil, with more than 13,500 people infected with the Zika virus and the disease could hit as many as 700,000, its health minister said.
The Zika virus is usually relatively mild, with symptoms such as skin rash, fever, muscle and joint pain, lasting up to seven days.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about the Zika virus.
Microcephaly is a birth defect in which a baby is born with a smaller head and a smaller brain, which may not develop properly. More than 3,800 cases have been reported in the past year.
Although it is spread from human to human through the bites of infected mosquitoes, there are reports of non-vector-borne transmission through the immediate period before or after birth, as well as sexual intercourse.
“Your cranium expands in order to accommodate the growth of your brain and these babies have neuro-developmental anomalies essentially”, said Dr. Ricks-Cord.
Cases in Brazil, Hawaii, El Salvador and Venezuela were reported over the past two months, the EDCD said, while a total of 27 countries reported cases of the Zika virus in the last nine months.
In north-east Brazil, there has been a marked increase in cases of newborn babies with microcephaly.
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Friday’s warning adds Barbados, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Cape Verde, Samoa and the island of Saint Martin to a list of 14 countries and territories.
“Studies are under way to evaluate the risks for Zika virus transmission during pregnancy, the spectrum of outcomes associated with congenital infection and the possible association between Zika virus infection and Guillain-Barré syndrome”, they wrote.
Zika has also been reported in the United States: three cases were detected in Florida in people who had recently traveled to Latin America.
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As concerns over the virus’ effects continues to grow, the CDC today expanded a travel advisory for pregnant women, advising them to reconsider travel to any country where the Zika virus is being transmitted from mosquito to person.
