US, Brazil Join Forces to Fight Zika Virus

A doctor examines a larva of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the carrier of Zika virus, in a laboratory of the Ministry of Health, in San Jose, Costa Rica, on January 29, 2016.

“The epidemiologic studies ongoing here in Brazil and some being initiated in Colombia should help cement the link”, she said. The CDC is not exclusively looking at Zika, but the potential for other infections or environmental causes of the birth defects. The virus usually causes only mild symptoms including fever.

While that relation has not been proven scientifically Brazilian authorities coping with an unprecedented number of babies with microcephaly say they are sure Zika is the cause, because most cases of microcephaly have occurred in the poorer northeast of Brazil where the Zika outbreak has hit hardest.

The meeting between USA and Brazilian public health experts helped pool scientific information, remove hurdles and make sure “we are putting our best minds together” to advance research on Zika and its consequences, said USA delegation head, Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services Jimmy Kolker.

Iowa has recorded its first confirmed Zika virus infection, in a woman who recently traveled to Central America, the state health department reported Friday.

Scientists also have yet to find out why Zika outbreaks have been followed by surges in microcephaly in Brazil and French Polynesia, but not in other countries where the virus has spread.

Most people who get Zika suffer no serious symptoms, but pregnant women are considered to be at risk and have been advised by numerous governments not to travel to Zika-prone countries.

Zika has also been linked to cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a neurological disorder that causes muscle weakness.

The mosquito is endemic to tropical regions, and is already transmitting Zika in at least 36 countries worldwide – 28 of them in the Americas – and Aylward said there were indications that the virus was spreading in six additional countries.

“It is not that we’re waiting for a magic bullet of one of these new, fancy, potentially important new technologies, but a lot can be done in terms of controlling this outbreak and massively reducing the disease burden with now available tools and strategies”, Alonso said.