Aruba, Bonaire islands added to Zika travel alert

“Today, CDC added the following destinations to the Zika virus travel notices: Aruba and Bonaire”. The World Bank said it was making United States dollars 150 million available “immediately” to the Latin America-Caribbean region to support countries affected by the Zika outbreak.

“The World Bank Group stands ready to support the countries affected by this health crisis and to provide additional support if needed”, he said.

Across the region, the initial estimate of economic impact amounts to a “modest” 0.06 per cent of annual gross domestic product, but could be more than 1 per cent in some countries – especially in the Caribbean – that are highly dependent on tourism, the Washington-based development agency said.

Authorities here say pregnant Korean women do not have to worry about Zika virus infections if they did not travel overseas but should avoid traveling to affected parts of the world.

The World Health Organization has cited a “strongly suspected” relationship between Zika infection in pregnancy and microcephaly, a condition in newborns marked by abnormally small heads and brains that have not developed properly.

“Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have made it a priority to respond to the Zika virus emergency”, said Jorge Familiar Calderon, World Bank vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean.

But there is equally a growing body of conviction that the microcephaly is caused by a larvicide that the Brazilian and Argentine governments have recklessly introduced into the water in areas where Zika is virulent, and Colombia, where the virus is also active, has seen no cases of microcephaly. In Rio de Janeiro, average hotel occupancy was 86 percent during the festivities, an increase of nearly three percentage points over the previous year, according to the Brazilian Hoteliers’ Association.

The virus, which can cause a mild illness, is spread primarily through mosquito bites.

The World Bank Group financing will support a range of activities critical to the Zika virus response, including vector surveillance and control.

The World Bank stressed that as new knowledge continues to emerge about Zika virus transmission and impact, or should public perceptions of risks from Zika rise sharply, the economic impacts will be reassessed.