WHO says increasing evidence of Zika link with microcephaly

Previously, scientists have found they can limit the replication of these viruses in mosquitoes by injecting mosquitoes with a strain of Wolbachia called wMel.

“As long as the outbreak continues in Central and South America and the Caribbean, we expect to see more travel-related Zika virus infections in our state”, said Randall Williams, MD, State Health Director.

The WHO has said that “existing scarce evidence” of the Zika virus “indicates that there may be a risk of sexual transmission”. Dermatologist Juliana Neiva says that while citronella evaporates very rapidly, only repellants containing ingredients such as Deet and Icaridin are effective against the mosquito that transmits Zika.

But others aren’t so certain. The findings will add to the body of evidence in the area and provide a route for further research.

The presence of the virus is confirmed in almost 39 countries now, after it’s first detection almost 45 years ago.

At Emory University in Atlanta, where Dr. Kent Brantly was successfully treated for Ebola, leadership figured out fast that face-to-face conversations were required to effectively inform hospital staff and media, says Vince Dollard, one of Emory’s communications leaders. It causes babies to born with unusually small heads.

In this Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016 file photo, Dallas County Mosquito Lab microbiologist Spencer Lockwood sorts mosquitos collected in a trap, left, in Hutchins, Texas. “As a result, Zika virus should be considered as a potential infectious agent for human fetuses”.

There are different varieties of the Zika virus, which will make it harder to develop a vaccine to protect humans from the disease, Scheel said.

The investigation poses special challenges. An infant in Hawaii tested positive for microcephaly, which is caused by the mother of the infant being exposed to Zika.

Travel adviceA travel advisory has been issued by the Centres for Disease Control in the United States, warning pregnant women to avoid travel to any of the areas now affected the outbreak. “Many of our clients have not yet told their employees not to travel, most have focused on to education and prevention [instead]”.

Investigators will take blood samples from the mothers to check for signs of an earlier Zika infection.

It’s also possible that other environmental factors present in the southern USA have prevented a large scale outbreak of the virus. Results are due in April.

Such studies are hardly ideal. “This study reports details of the Zika virus being identified directly in the amniotic fluid of a woman during her pregnancy, suggesting that the virus could cross the placental barrier and potentially infect the foetus”, said Dr Ana de Filippis of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute in Rio de Janeiro, who was the paper’s lead author.

Initially, Van der Linden and other doctors looked for the usual causes of microcephaly, such as toxoplasmosis, rubella, HIV, and cytomegalovirus. It has appeared in Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and Pakistan, but no widespread cases have been reported and symptoms have typically been mild and similar to dengue and chikungunya, which may have helped mask its presence.

As one of the most populous countries in the Americas, Brazil contributed 71 percent of the dengue cases in the region.

Questions have also been raised over the uneven spread of microcephaly in areas affected by Zika, since nearly all of the linked cases have been in north-east Brazil.