Brazil launches anti-Zika campaign in schools

On January 15, 2016, the Public Health Agency of Canada issued a Public Health Notice and a Travel Health Notice concerning Zika virus following confirmed travel-related cases of Zika virus infection in Canada originating from Central and South America.

Dr. Bruce Aylward, WHO’s executive director for outbreaks and health emergencies, said Friday at a news conference that the mosquito population is expected to drop off around when Rio hosts the games, since it will be winter in the southern hemisphere.

The province says the risk to Ontarians remains “very low” as mosquitos known to transmit the virus are not established in Canada and not suited to this country’s climate. “However, Iowans traveling to areas where there is ongoing Zika virus transmission should take care to protect themselves from mosquito bites”. WHO and US health authorities have recommended that pregnant women postpone traveling to infected areas and their partners use condoms or abstain from sex if they live in or have visited Zika-affected areas.

“Given the frequency of travel between South Africa and a number of countries now experiencing outbreaks of the Zika virus, it is likely that other sporadic imported cases will be seen here in travellers as has been the experience in a number of countries”. Symptoms of Zika typically include fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis.

The Zika virus illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week and hospitalizations are rare.

The Iowa Department of Public Health is not performing tests, though state health officials said they will consider it in the future.

Zika, transmitted through mosquito bites, has recently been linked to a congenital condition that causes newborns to have unusually small heads.

The CDC will monitor 100 babies with microcephaly and their mothers in Brazil and compare them with healthy babies to determine whether Zika caused the brain defects during the early months of pregnancy.

With no cure to microcephaly or vaccine against Zika, Brazil’s government has ordered out tens of thousands of troops and health workers in a door to door campaign to clean up stagnant water pools where mosquitoes breed.