Dr Carissa Etienne, the regional-director for the WHO Pan American Health Organization, said the link between the abnormalities and Zika had not been confirmed. “The increased incidence of microcephaly is particularly alarming, as it places a heart-breaking burden on families and communities”, Chan said.
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The relatively new mosquito-borne disease is now in “23 countries and territories in the region”, according to Chan.
Key West, Florida, residents gave the genetically modified male his monster nicknames while protesting a trial release of the mosquito in 2012 as a way to combat an outbreak of dengue fever in South Florida. Chan says eliminating mosquito breeding grounds is one of the most important defenses against the disease.
The WHO announced Thursday that it is convening an global emergency committee on the Zika virus and the observed rise in birth defects and neurological disorders.
The Zika virus is transmitted through a specific genus of mosquitoes known as Aedes mosquitoes, Aliota said.
Also speaking Thursday was International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, who said his organization is in “close contact” with Brazilian authorities and the World Health Organization about Zika. Brazil’s Health Ministry linked the virus to a fetal deformation called microcephaly, in which infants are born with under-developed heads and brains.
Chan said that during previous outbreaks the virus, which was first discovered in a monkey in Uganda in 1947, “occasionally caused a mild disease of low concern”.
Insect repellents containing DEET, picaridin, and IR3535 are safe for pregnant and nursing women and children older than 2 months when used according to the product label. Polio was declared a similar emergency the year before. The Associated Press found that senior agency officials resisted the Ebola declaration for two months, citing political and economic reasons.
Other Latin American countries are now seeing cases in newborns as well, while in the United States one Hawaiian baby was born with microcephaly linked to the Zika virus after his mother returned from Brazil. Non-governmental organizations say that the country saw more than 400,000 unusual cases of acute fever in the second half of 2015 that may have been Zika.
Rio de Janeiro is the host city for the 2016 Olympic Games in August. We don’t have treatment for Zika.
United States scientists have warned the World Health Organisation the Zika virus has “explosive” pandemic potential.
Dr. Saul says no, you can only get it if you are bitten by an infected mosquito.
You are exclusively responsible for your comments and by using TribLive.com you agree to our Terms of Service. They welcomed WHO’s decision. “They aren’t going hand in hand with policies to make contraception and emergency contraception available, especially in El Salvador where those things are very inaccessible'”. Because of the volume of reader comments, we can not review individual moderation decisions with readers.
Because it is a mild infection, it doesn’t kill the fetus, we don’t think it does anyway. They are either approved or deleted.
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Since the virus is relatively new to the area, people’s immune systems do not know how to fight off the virus, which has lead to the outbreak being severe in many parts of the Americas, Jorge Osorio, UW School of Veterinary Medicine pathobiological sciences professor, said.
