World Health Organization warns Zika virus is spreading ‘explosively’

Zika virus is also being linked to birth defects such as microcephaly, a condition that causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads.

The sense of urgency was palpable as WHO Director Margaret Chan addressed a special session on the Zika virus in Geneva.

“The vast majority of people who contract Zika do not get seriously ill, and recover quickly when they do”, Scott Zoback, spokesman for the BPHC, said in a statement.

Health officials did not say when they returned to Canada.

The enemy of mankind is undoubtedly the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

One day after the World Health Organization warns the Zika virus is spreading explosively, three patients in SC are now being tested for it.

About 25 percent of people develop symptoms such as a rash, fever, joint pain, red eyes, and or a headache within two to ten days of being bitten.

Such is the level of alarm that many American countries like El Salvador, Colombia and Ecuador have urged women to postpone pregnancy till 2018.

Health officials in Houston today announced the second case there, both in women who had traveled to affected areas.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have issued travel warnings for more than 20 countries in South America, the Caribbean, and Latin America.

“The real concern is among people traveling to these countries – and even there, the concern is primarily in pregnant women”, he said.

“There is some evidence that mother-to-child transmission may occur, there have been a few reports identifying the possibility of transmission of Zika virus through transfusion of infected blood or possible sexual transmission of Zika virus”. “Since some regions where Zika is circulating are popular destinations for Minnesota travelers in the winter, we expected we might see cases of Zika in the state”.

“We are focusing on especially strengthening the surveillance system”, said the minister.