Venezuela reports 4700 suspected Zika virus cases

WHO’s announcement underscores the speed with which a virus that began as an obscure tropical malady afflicting Africa and then several remote Western Pacific islands has transformed into a major worldwide health concern, particularly in the Americas.

Microcephaly is a commonly known birth defect characterized by smaller heads. It causes rashes, joint pain, fevers and other symptoms.

Canada’s health minister is trying to calm fears after three cases have been confirmed in our country.

Cases have soared in Brazil from 163 a year on average to more than 3,718 suspected cases since the outbreak, and 68 babies have died, according to the health ministry.

Alerts have been put out to travelers to Central and South America to take precautions against mosquito bites.

“Last year, the virus was detected in the Americas, where it is now spreading explosively”, Chan said today.

“The species of mosquito that transmits Zika is rarely found in Boston”, Dr. Anita Barry, director of the Infectious Disease Bureau at BPHC, said in a statement.

There are two potential Zika vaccines in development, but no commercially available vaccine or cure is available at the moment. But that could change in the future.

Health officials have been grappling with how to stop the virus, which is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

The virus is also linked to microcephaly, an abnormal smallness of the head in infants, and so Zika is especially unsafe for pregnant women.

Philpott says it’s still unclear whether the virus has actually been spread through blood products, but promises more information on that likelihood will be made public once it’s available.

Chan said the WHO will meet on Monday to decide whether to declare an global public health emergency in response to Zika, a move that would step up worldwide efforts to fight it.

The virus was first isolated from monkeys in Uganda in 1947, but it has never caused an outbreak of this magnitude in humans.