WHO panel meets to deal with Zika virus
Print Edition
World Health Organization experts began emergency talks yesterday on whether a Zika virus outbreak suspected of causing a surge in serious birth defects in South America should be declared a global health emergency.
The UN health agency warned last week that the mosquito-borne virus was “spreading explosively” in the Americas, with the region expected to see up to 4 million cases this year.
The WHO is under pressure to act quickly in the fight against Zika, after admitting it was slow to respond to the recent Ebola outbreak that ravaged parts of Africa.
Although symptoms of the mosquito-borne virus are relatively mild, it is believed to be linked to a surge in cases of microcephaly, a devastating condition in which a baby is born with an abnormally small head and brain.
While it has yet to be definitively proven that the microcephaly cases are caused in some way by the Zika virus, WHO chief Margaret Chan warned last week that a causal relationship was “strongly suspected.”
Zika is also believed to be linked to a neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome.
Brazil sounded the alarm in October when a rash of microcephaly cases emerged in the northeast.
As alarm grows over the surge in number of cases, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Jamaica and Puerto Rico have warned women to delay conceiving until the Zika outbreak is brought under control.
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