Is Indian weather a breeding ground for Zika Virus?

Public Health England (PHE) said all men should use condoms for 28 days after coming home from countries like Brazil and Mexico if their partner was at risk of pregnancy, or already pregnant.

Nuno Antunes, an analyst at Decision Resources Group, told BioPharma Dive: “This will require heavy economic and social efforts; there will be direct expenditures associated with their care, but also a significant economic and social impact as they will require a full-time care taker, most likely a parent who will have to stop working to do so given that these countries are not prepared to offer support to so many children”.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the zika virus (ZIKV) is “spreading explosively”, predicting up to four million cases this year.

The US government is appealing for all kinds of research on Zika and will draw from a pool of US$97 million (RM401 million) to fund studies on everything from how it spreads to how it causes disease to how to control the mosquitoes that spread it.

El Salvador has taken the unusual step of advising women to hold off on getting pregnant until 2018, while officials in Colombia and Ecuador have urged women to delay becoming pregnant until the dangers of the virus are better understood.

There is no vaccine, although Canadian researchers are among those seeking one.

Warm temperatures and humid conditions are conducive for the spread of the Zika Virus.

All three samples came from people who had recently traveled to countries where the Zika virus is widespread.

Honduras also said it had registered 1 000 cases of Zika, which is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the species that also carries dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.

Chan highlighted the growing concern over Zika’s possible link to microcephaly and a neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome.

As the number of suspected cases of microcephaly – thought to be linked to the virus – surged in Brazil, WHO head Margaret Chan said an emergency committee would meet Monday to determine whether the Zika outbreak amounts to a global health emergency. He says they can answer any questions you have regarding the Zika threat or any other travel issues, including the recommended vaccinations needed for specific areas.

The CDC is now advising pregnant women: “Consider postponing travel to any area where Zika virus transmission is ongoing”.

Brazil, the hardest hit country, sounded the alarm in October, when a rash of microcephaly cases emerged in the northeast. Meanwhile, efforts are focused on controlling the spread of the virus by eliminating mosquito populations.

The WHO’s Western Pacific Region Office in Manila said as long as Aedes mosquitoes circulated in the region “it can be anticipated that the virus will emerge”. In some countries, health officials have been going door-to-door to spray mosquito-breeding grounds.