The Zika virus is a virus transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito. Zika outbreaks were reported for the first time from the Pacific in 2007 and 2013, and in 2015 from Brazil and Colombia. People who have contracted the Zika virus usually have symptoms that can include mild fever, skin rashes, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise, or headache. Symptoms normally last for 2-7 days. There is no specific treatment or vaccine currently available, and the best form of prevention is protection against mosquito bites.
The virus is known to circulate in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and the Pacific.
The World Health Organization is warning there could be 3 to 4 million cases of Zika virus in the Americas over the next year.
WHO Director-General, Dr. Margaret Chan, said the virus, which has been linked to birth defects and neurological problems, was “spreading explosively.”
Chan said though there was no definitive proof that Zika was responsible for a spike in the number of babies being born with abnormally small heads in Brazil, “the level of alarm is extremely high.” The birth defect, called microcephaly, can result in brain damage.
A number of Zika patients in Brazil have also developed a rare autoimmune condition called Guillain-Barre syndrome, which can cause at least temporary paralysis.
Chan also says “conditions associated with this year’s El Nino weather pattern are expected to increase mosquito populations greatly in many areas.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, spoke to CBS News and said he did not expect to see a major Zika outbreak in the U.S.
“If Zika acts like the other types of viruses that are mosquito-borne that we’ve had experience with, like dengue and chikungunya, we will see mini-outbreaks like in Florida and in Texas that can be well controlled with mosquito vector control. Hopefully we will not see anything worse than that, but we have to be very vigilant,” Fauci told “CBS This Morning.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said so far there have been 31 cases of Zika virus detected in 11 U.S. states. All of the people infected had recently returned from travel to a region where the virus is active. The CDC has issued a travel alert advising pregnant women to postpone travel to countries – mostly in Central and South America and the Caribbean – where Zika transmission is ongoing.
Pregnant women who do visit these areas should see their doctors before traveling to discuss risks and how to avoid mosquitos. Any and all travelers should take precautions. Dr. Clifford Bassett, medical director of Allergy and Asthma Care of New York told CBS News, “There are 400 compounds in our skin that are attractive to mosquitoes.” Mosquitos are attracted to carbon dioxide in breath, sweat, higher body temperatures, and pregnant women because they exhale more carbon dioxide than other people and have more blood circulation through their bodies.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/zika/en/