Zika Virus: WHO Warns African Region To Be Prepared To Tackle Disease

Brazil is mobilizing 220,000 soldiers to visit three million homes to combat the mosquito, Defense Minister Aldo Rebelo said Thursday.

While “no scientific evidence to date confirms a link between Zika virus and microcephaly or GBS”, the agency pointed out that GBS was also observed during the 2013-14 Zika virus outbreak in French Polynesia.

The country has 462 confirmed cases of microcephaly, and is investigating another 3,852 suspected cases, the BBC reported.

Reports of Guillain-Barre in Brazil, El Salvador, Suriname, Venezuela and Colombia were recorded alongside the rising number of cases of the Zika virus, which has spread to 34 countries.

According to the BBC, the exercise is aimed at boosting morale.

He said the move is aimed at reducing the local mosquito population, which could transmit the Zika virus to humans.

Vision-threatening eye abnormalities in infants in Brazil with microcephaly – a birth defect characterised by an abnormally small head – may be associated with infection with Zika virus, says a new study.

The agency said the decision was made after the World Health Organization on Friday last week listed Thailand as a country with indigenous Zika cases. The Venezuelan government has also yet to release a statement on the conditions of pregnant women in the light of the Zika outbreak.

The CDC continues to advise pregnant women to avoid travel where Zika is being transmitted.

Like our Facebook Page to get more fantastic content from us. A mosquito-borne disease has been a source of public anxiety since November when the Brazilian officials reported about an incidence of a birth defect called microcephaly due to this virus. Women have been urged to delay pregnancy for six to eight months, while pregnant women with Zika have been granted access to much-restricted abortion services, Reuters reported.

She said the government is mobilizing to develop a vaccine but insists that until it’s ready, the best course of action remains to prevent the mosquito from breeding.

Brazilian researchers have developed a highly accurate molecular test that can detect the Zika virus in samples of blood, saliva or urine within five hours.