Zika Virus Likely to Spread Across Americas

The World Health Organization says the virus is likely to spread across almost all of the Americas, apart from Canada and Chile. The Zika virus causes devastating birth defects and is transmitted by mosquitoes, not thorough person-to-person contact. Symptoms are fairly mild and include headache, rash, fever, joint pains and conjunctivitis.

The virus is being linked to microcephaly, a condition where babies are born with small heads and damaged brains, and is carried by the same mosquito that transmits dengue and yellow fever.

There are no easy, widely available tests to determine if someone has Zika or whether they’ve been inoculated to the virus.

According to World Health Organization, twenty-one countries and territories of the Americas have reported cases of the virus since transmission was first detected in Brazil in May 2015. People in the Americas tend to lack natural immunity to the infection, which is thought to be aiding in its proliferation.

After more than 5,000 suspected Zika cases were reported past year and in the first weeks of 2016, El Salvador on Thursday took the most extreme stance so far: Deputy Health Minister Eduardo Espinoza urged women to refrain from getting pregnant before 2018.

WITH three Britons contracting the Zika virus that may cause severe birth defects what is it and how can you protect yourself?

Meanwhile many pregnant Britons planning trips to affected areas will be reconsidering their travel plans because of risks posed to their unborn children.

Virus expert Professor Trudie Lang, of the University of Oxford, said the virus was not like Ebola in that there was no evidence for human-to-human transmission.

Two factors contribute to the spread of virus, WHO’s statement Monday explained. There is also growing concern that Zika virus could be linked to Guillain-Barré syndrome, which can result in weeks of paralysis. Health officials recommend covering up, using insect repellant and keeping windows closed or screened.

Hence, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised expectant moms to avoid travelling in countries, like Bolivia, Brazil, Cape Verde, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Saint Martin, Suriname, Samoa, Venezuela and Puerto Rico.

For local Aedes aegypti to spread Zika virus, they must bite an infected traveller shortly after they return from a country where the virus is circulating.

A health agent from Sao Paulo’s public health secretary shows a Brazillian soldier Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae that she found during a clean-up operation.

The most effective forms of prevention are (1) reducing mosquito populations by eliminating their potential breeding sites, especially containers and other items (such as discarded tires) that can collect water in and around households; and (2) using personal protection measures to prevent mosquito bites (see also recommendations below).

Researchers in Brazil said on Wednesday they had found new evidence linking the virus to increasing incidence of microcephaly, a condition in which babies are born with unusually small heads.

The mosquito-borne disease has raged in South America and other regions for several months.