WHO, nations under pressure to contain Zika virus

With the scientific community globally cautioning against a pandemic, countries took new steps on Wednesday to try to stop the mosquito-transmitted virus linked to the dangerous birth defect called microcephaly. The United States said it will block people who have visited regions impacted by the virus from donating blood in a bid to fight its spread. 

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said her country must wage war against the Aedes aegypti mosquito that spreads the virus, focusing on getting rid of the insect’s breeding grounds. The mosquito thrives in dense tropical cities. US researchers called on the WHO to take swift action. Georgetown University researchers asked to heed the lessons of Ebola and called on the WHO to convene a special emergency session of health and infectious disease experts to consider declaring Zika a serious health crisis that endangers international public health. 

A tropical climate, dense cities, poor sanitation and slipshod construction provided ideal conditions for mosquito breeding grounds and the spread of the Zika virus in Brazil’s northeast, across the country and to more than 20 others throughout the Americas. 

There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika, which is a close cousin of dengue and chikungunya and causes mild fever, rash and red eyes. An estimated 80 percent of people infected have no symptoms, making it difficult for pregnant women to know whether they have been infected. 

There was word of more cases outside the affected region among travellers who had been to those countries. Portugal said five people tested positive after recent trips to Brazil. Four similar cases were reported in New York, as well as single cases in California, Minnesota, Virginia and Arkansas among people who had travelled to the affected region.