The World Health Organization today declared the spread of the Zika virus to be an worldwide public health emergency, less than a week after officials confirmed the first case of the virus in the United States, in Los Angeles County.
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The main concern is Zika’s possible link to microcephaly, a condition that causes babies to be born with brain damage and unusually small heads.
“I am now declaring that the recent cluster of microcephaly and other neurological abnormalities reported in Latin America following a similar cluster in French Polynesia in 2014 constitutes a public health emergency of worldwide concern”, Chan told reporters in Geneva where WHO scientists held an urgent meeting.
The World Health Organization has announced that the explosive spread of the Zika virus in the Americas is an “extraordinary event” that merits being declared an global emergency.
Generally, a disease outbreak must meet two key criteria for the WHO to declare it a “public health emergency of global concern”, or PHEIC.
“It could be that we’re getting the strongest signal in Brazil”, he said before WHO’s annoucement.
A coordinated worldwide response is needed to improve surveillance, the detection of infections, congenital malformations, and neurological complications, to intensify the control of mosquito populations, and to expedite the development of diagnostic tests and vaccines to protect people at risk, especially during pregnancy.
“The risk, which I would say is serious, is for pregnant women”, Wagner said, per the Agence France-Presse (via Yahoo News). The virus, which may cause mild flu-like symptoms in some people, has been linked to birth defects, miscarriage, and stillborn infants.
The virus is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which also spreads dengue fever, and which is found everywhere in the Americas except Canada and Chile.
Health Minister Cameron Dick will convene a roundtable meeting this week with infectious disease experts and others to ensure the state can handle the mosquito-borne illness, which has been linked to birth defects.
Most individuals infected with Zika virus are asymptomatic and suffer no long-term consequences, The New York Times reported.
Researchers now working on a Zika vaccine say under a best case scenario, they hope to have a product ready to deploy in 3 to 4 years.
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There are fears that the virus – which has spread to 23 countries – is being passed to humans via the common mosquito, as some say El Nino is playing a factor into the rapid spread of it. About 80 per cent of those who contract the virus don’t develop any symptoms. “Maybe this will be a false alarm when more information is available months later, but it’s serious enough on the evidence we have right now that we have to act”.
