UN Health Agency Warns of 3-4 Million Zika Virus Cases

Declaring that the virus is “spreading explosively”, WHO will hold an emergency meeting of independent experts on Monday to decide if the outbreak should be declared an worldwide health emergency.

But the virus, while not necessarily damning in and of itself, has been linked with a far more concerning problem: babies born with abnormally small heads, a serious condition known as microcephaly.

Alarm over the Zika virus reached new heights Thursday, as the World Health Organization (WHO) devoted its executive session in Geneva to addressing the growing pandemic.

Zika virus was first detected in 1947 and for decades, only caused mild symptoms.

“A causal relationship between Zika virus infection and birth malformations and neurological syndromes has not yet been established, but is strongly suspected”, Chan said.

Chan said the World Health Organization will convene an emergency committee meeting on February 1 to help determine its response level.

Dr. Anthony Fauci says the Zika virus – suspected of being connected to microcephaly – hopefully can be kept at bay with “mosquito vector control”. Until those efforts bear fruit, health officials are implementing traditional mosquito control techniques such as spraying pesticides and emptying standing water receptacles where mosquitoes breed.

“We know many of our residents are traveling to warmer climates”, said Dr. Mysheika Roberts, Columbus Public Health’s assistant commissioner and medical director. Chan says eliminating mosquito breeding grounds is one of the most important defenses against the disease.

As of now, there is no vaccine or medicine to treat Zika virus, and no way to prevent it other than by trying to avoid mosquito bites.

France today asked pregnant women not to travel to French overseas territories in South America and the Caribbean where the mosquito-borne Zika virus has led to a rise in birth defects.

Microcephaly can cause brain damage in babies or even death.

The Zika virus, which is mosquito borne and is being linked with severe birth defects, has been rapidly spreading throughout the Americas. On Tuesday, President Obama voiced his concerns for the Zika virus here in the United States, calling for more research into ways to stop the spread of the disease.

Meanwhile, CNN revealed that United Airlines is also offering travelers “who are traveling to the affected regions the opportunity to rebook at a later date or receive a full refund”, the company said as quoted by the publication.

On Tuesday, officials in Rio also ramped up their fight against the Aedes aegypti, dispatching a team of fumigators to the Sambadrome, where the city’s Carnival parades will take place next month, and the region’s governor was distributing mosquito-fighting vehicles for poor suburbs of the city. “We should not wait for it to spread”, he said.

The CDC is asking OB-GYNs to review fetal ultrasounds and do maternal testing for any pregnant woman who has traveled to one of the 24 countries where Zika is now active. This is why experts like Hotez have warned of it popping up in areas in the USA with wet lowlands, warm temperatures, and species of mosquito that can transmit the virus. As of yet, no cases of USA infection have been reported, although some US citizens have contracted the virus overseas and returned infected.

Chan said the concerns have been raised about the virus because of the lack of vaccines or specific treatments and potential for further global spread because of the wide area where mosquitoes capable of carrying Zika are present.

Many doctors and health activists worry that the country will be ill-equipped to fight the virus as it grapples with economic crisis and constant shortages of consumer goods and medicines.