WHO reports rise of neurological disorder in Zika outbreak

The finding suggests that the mosquito-spread virus may unexpectedly hang around in the body for much longer than symptoms appear, which typically only last for about a week.

“It’s a process that can take months”, Whitaker said, without providing details on the financial cost of sending the U.S. scientists. The man, who initially thought he was infected with the dengue virus, had already seen a doctor in Venezuela after showing symptoms including fever and dizziness in the South American country.

A health worker fumigates as part of preventive measures against the Zika virus and other mosquito-borne diseases, at the cemetery of Presbitero Maestro in Lima, Peru, February 12, 2016. CDC has confirmed a US case of Zika virus infection in a non-traveler after the person’s sexual partner returned from an affected country and developed symptoms.

Zika is primarily transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquito bites, though spread of the virus also has been reported through blood transfusions.

Based on available evidence, World Health Organization is not recommending any travel or trade restrictions related to Zika virus disease.

Minister Marcelo Castro said at a news conference that the government will invest $1.9 million in the research, which will be jointly conducted by the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and the Evandro Chagas Institute in the Amazonian city of Belem – two facilities specializing in study of mosquito viruses. Officials in El Salvador, Colombia, Ecuador and Jamaica have urged women to delay pregnancies.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said yesterday that it will know in a matter of weeks whether the Zika virus causes microcephaly and neurological illness Guillain-Barre syndrome.

Pregnant women or those thinking about becoming pregnant are still being advised to delay travel to the affected countries, and people traveling in those countries are asked to use mosquito repellents, she said. In Brazil alone, about 4,000 babies were born in 2015 with microcephaly, or abnormally small heads.

However, health officials also should not rule out other potential causes for microcephaly as they assess the impact of the Zika epidemic, said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior associate at the UPMC Center for Health Security in Baltimore.

While Freedman and Wilson downplayed the threat of the Zika virus in Alabama, they acknowledged that things could change for the worse.

Experts advise women who may consider traveling to effected areas that if they have fear then do not travel, but they should be okay.

“We have a few more weeks to be sure to demonstrate causality, but the link between Zika and Guillain-Barre is highly probable”, Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Systems and Innovation, told a news briefing.