CDC, Georgia Public Health Department Issue Zika Travel Advisories for the Americas

No medicines are available to treat those with the Zika virus, and there are no vaccines to prevent it. But Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Thursday that clinical trials on a vaccine could begin this year.

“But I want to emphasize that it’s not well-documented and the information that we have is really very limited”, Simor said.

The agency said it is working with Health Canada and Héma-Québec to establish the length of time for delaying donations, but for now the recommendation is one month.

The Health Ministry is advising caution and says it’s following the situation in countries with the Zika virus closely. The exact date for the restrictions has yet to be determined, she said.

Karen Murphy said, “This type of weather, we don’t have mosquitoes in January”. However, he admits that it may be impossible to come up with a vaccine this year or in the near future. The mosquito transmits the Zika virus, as well as Dengue.

Tropical Southeast Asian countries said yesterday they were bracing for the mosquito-borne Zika virus, with Malaysia saying it could “spread quickly” if introduced, but Thailand appeared to be bucking the trend with just a handful of cases a year.

Earlier this month, USA health officials advised pregnant women to postpone visits to Brazil and other countries in the region with outbreaks.

Seminars and informational classes for pregnant women across Central and South America hope to keep the Zika virus at bay. When they look at similar viruses similar to zika they find once a person has recovered and when their symptoms are gone, the virus is no longer in their body so they don’t think future pregnancies will be at any risk at all. Furthermore, since the virus is new to the Americas the population will not have any natural immunity to the infection allowing it to spread rapidly.

Devine said there could also be some overlap: certain countries or regions where malaria-carrying mosquitoes are present may now also be home to the Zika virus, which originated in Africa and spread to southeast Asia, then made its way to the Pacific Islands, and previous year to the Western Hemisphere.

The WHO will hold an emergency meeting of independent experts on Monday to decide whether the outbreak should be declared an worldwide health emergency.

The Zika virus has been linked to cases of microcephaly, or abnormally small heads in newborns.

The scientists said that most countries, especially in the developing world, had failed to adopt worldwide health regulations to the required standard.

The Aedes aegypti mosquito carries the virus, and there have been calls for its eradication as the only long-term solution. There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika, which is like dengue and causes mild fever, rash and red eyes. “If you don’t get better after a few days, see your doctor right away”.

But “for people who are pregnant and considering travel to the affected areas, please take this seriously”, she added.

Researchers are now investigating whether there is any link between Zika virus and Guillain-Barre.