WHO warns that Zika virus, linked to infants' microcephaly, likely to spread across Americas
- 8 years ago
GENEVA — The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Monday that mosquito-borne Zika virus, which has been linked to thousands of birth defects in Brazil, is likely to spread across the Americas with the exception of Canada and Chile, Reuters reported.
The transmission of the Zika virus was first detected in Brazil in May 2015, and since then it has been spreading across many countries in the Americas.
The virus is transmitted by the Aedes genus mosquito, which can also carry the dengue and chikungunya viruses. Zika causes a mild disease with fever, rash and joint pain, but it is rarely fatal and can be cured with bed rest and liquids.
In Brazil however, health officials have also linked it to infant birth defects.
According to the WHO, since October the country has reported almost 4,000 cases of microcephaly among infants, a condition that causes an abnormal smallness of the head associated with incomplete brain development.
As a response to the outbreak, Brazil, together with Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador and Jamaica have recommended women to delay pregnancies, the BBC reported.
Sao Paulo-based Butantan Institute is also planning to develop a vaccine for the disease.
British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) is also studying how to use its technology on Zika.
According to Reuters, Zika transmission has not been reported in the United States yet. However, a woman who fell ill in Brazil delivered a baby affected by brain damage in Hawaii.
The virus was first discovered in a monkey in the Zika forest, near lake Victoria in Uganda in 1947. It then spread to Southeast Asia and French Polynesia, until it reached Brazil in 2014.
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The transmission of the Zika virus was first detected in Brazil in May 2015, and since then it has been spreading across many countries in the Americas.
The virus is transmitted by the Aedes genus mosquito, which can also carry the dengue and chikungunya viruses. Zika causes a mild disease with fever, rash and joint pain, but it is rarely fatal and can be cured with bed rest and liquids.
In Brazil however, health officials have also linked it to infant birth defects.
According to the WHO, since October the country has reported almost 4,000 cases of microcephaly among infants, a condition that causes an abnormal smallness of the head associated with incomplete brain development.
As a response to the outbreak, Brazil, together with Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador and Jamaica have recommended women to delay pregnancies, the BBC reported.
Sao Paulo-based Butantan Institute is also planning to develop a vaccine for the disease.
British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) is also studying how to use its technology on Zika.
According to Reuters, Zika transmission has not been reported in the United States yet. However, a woman who fell ill in Brazil delivered a baby affected by brain damage in Hawaii.
The virus was first discovered in a monkey in the Zika forest, near lake Victoria in Uganda in 1947. It then spread to Southeast Asia and French Polynesia, until it reached Brazil in 2014.
-------------------------------------------------------------
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Check out our Android app: http://bit.ly/1rddhCj
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Instagram @tomonewsus http://instagram.com/tomonewsus