The virus has spread across 22 countries, mostly in Central and South America as a deadly strain affecting foetuses, thus posing a big risk to pregnant women.
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The WHO has set up an International Health Regulations Emergency Committee to examine Zika and will meet on Monday to decide whether it constitutes a global emergency.
“The level of alarm is extremely high”, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said in remarks to the public-health agency’s executive board.
Bach said the IOC are working in close contact with the Brazilian authorities to make sure the most up-to-date information regarding the virus and its prevention are disseminated to the relevant worldwide bodies.
The National Health and Family Planning Commission said on Friday that although the mainland is at risk of the Zika virus, there is a low possibility of an outbreak. Since the virus was first reported, 200 babies have been born with defects from the illness.
Since May 2015, Zika virus disease, an emerging viral disease transmitted by Aedes mosquitos, has spread in the Americas and the Caribbean, following the reporting of the first cases in Brazil.
More than 2,100 pregnant Colombian women are infected with the mosquito-borne Zika virus, the country’s national health institute said on Saturday, as the disease continued its spread across the Americas.
What Is the Zika Virus? .
Colombia has said it had about 16,500 suspected cases of Zika, though only a small fraction have been confirmed by laboratory tests. Experts say it is too early to tell whether Zika is the cause of the condition, but there are some indications that the two are linked.
The Health Ministry is advising caution and says it’s following the situation in countries with the Zika virus closely.
Because the symptoms are generally minor for people infected with Zika Virus, the only people in any serious danger are expectant mothers.
Venezuela has reported 4,500 cases of potential infection.
Aedes mosquitoes are now not found in Hong Kong, the Health Department said, but the secretary said that other species of mosquito present in the territory are also considered as possible carriers of the disease.
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They are advised to wait at least one month after returning from a country affected by the virus before making another blood donation.
