Researchers scramble to fight ‘brand new’ Zika virus

The health ministry has said Zika infection falls within the health requirements women must meet to get abortions in the country, which restricts the procedure unless patients are victims of rape, have significant medical problems or the fetus is fatally deformed. The National Institutes of Health launched a Zika vaccine initiative late previous year.

Declaring that the Zika virus is “spreading explosively”, the World Health Organization announced it will hold an emergency meeting of independent experts Monday to decide if the outbreak should be declared an worldwide health emergency.

“What we have at this moment, in this country, is a group of women who’s in fear of getting pregnant and not knowing what will happen during the pregnancy”, a law professor at Brasilia University told the BBC. Officials are still investigating whether Zika causes microcephaly in newborns, but the link is “strongly suspected”, according to the WHO.

It is recommended that pregnant women and those considering becoming pregnant discuss their travel plans with their health care provider to assess their risk and consider postponing travel to areas where the Zika virus is circulating in the Americas.

Given the proximity between Zika and Dengue viruses, collective and individual prevention measures for both viruses were identical.

“As the principal source for the fastest growing vector-borne infection in the world in Dengue Fever, as well as the increasingly challenging Zika virus, controlling the Aedes aegypti population provides the best defense against these serious diseases for which there are no cures”.

Brazil has reported as many as 1.5 million cases of Zika infection.

Health authorities are also probing an increase in Guillain Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder in which a person’s own immune system damages nerve cells, leading to muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis, she said. All had recently traveled to countries caught in the middle of the outbreak.

Developing a safe and effective vaccine could take a year, W.H.O.

Since the first outbreak was reported in May 2015 in Brazil, the virus has already spread to 23 countries and territories in the Americas.

Almost half of Colombia’s Zika cases have been reported in the country’s Caribbean region, the bulletin said.

Zika is mild in most people, sometimes causing headache, a rash, joint pain or red eyes.

The virus is also associated with higher risk of congenital malformations in newborn when pregnant women are affected.