The World Health Organization announced Thursday it will hold an emergency meeting next to week on how to confront the Zika virus, which it said is “spreading explosively” in the Americas, USA Today reported.
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Spread by mosquito, the Zika virus has been linked to birth defects like microcephaly, a neurological disorder where babies are born with abnormally small heads.
Women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant are being warned to avoid regions where the virus is present.
People who get Zika virus disease typically have a mild fever, skin rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain and fatigue that can last for two to seven days.
Despite the Zika virus infection continuing to spread in the Americas, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday that during the winter, the risk of Zika virus transmission in Europe was extremely low.
“We must declare war on the mosquito and until we have a vaccine against the Zika virus, that war must focus our efforts on eliminating its breeding grounds”, Rousseff said on her Twitter page.
However, US health officials reiterated Thursday they don’t think the United States is vulnerable to a widespread outbreak of the Zika virus. The race is on to develop a Zika vaccine.
The Zika virus was first detected in the Americas in May 2015 in Brazil.
There is still no indication that the virus can be passed from human to human outside a mother’s womb, despite one case of it possibly being transmitted through sexual intercourse.
The same mosquito species spreading Zika in Latin America is also found in the southern United States.
Concerns have arisen about Brazil’s ability to safely host this year’s Olympic Games in the capital Rio de Janeiro.
The Ministry for Health and Medical Services says no Zika virus case has been recorded in Fiji so far.
The agency already prohibits Canadians who have travelled to countries where malaria is endemic from donating blood for a period of 12 months.
Chan described the history of the virus which was first isolated in 1947 in the Zika forest of Uganda, known for predominantly nestling across the equatorial belt and affecting monkeys only.
Health officials have worked to raise public awareness about ways to prevent infections, including by using insect repellents and wearing protective clothing.
The Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention has also been sending text messages to people traveling in regions where Zika has spread to inform them of the disease and preventive measures.
A group of Brazilian lawyers, activists and scientists is to ask the country’s Supreme Court to allow abortions for women who have contracted the virus. During an outbreak of Zika from 2013-2014 in French Polynesia, national health authorities reported an unusual increase in Guillain-Barre syndrome. Espinal said this raises the possibility that other factors in addition to Zika may be causing the severe health problems.
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“When you go out there and fumigate and larvacide against Dengue, against West Nile against Chikungunya, you are doing it for Zika too”, Olivarez said.
