Zika Virus To Spread To Other Countries In The Americas;W.H.O
Posted by admin | 8 years ago | 2,271 times
brains in Brazil - is likely to spread to all countries in the Americas except for Canada and Chile, the World Health Organization has said.
Margaret Chan, the WHO director-general, told the organisation's executive board on Monday that she had asked Carissa Etienne, head of the WHO in the Americas, to brief the board later this week on the WHO's response to the outbreak.
Brazil's Health Ministry in November confirmed the mosquito-borne Zika virus was linked to a foetal deformation known as microcephaly, in which infants are born with smaller-than-usual brains.
Brazil has reported 3,893 suspected cases of microcephaly, the WHO said last Friday, over 30 times more than had been reported in any year since 2010.
WHO advised pregnant women planning to travel to areas where Zika is circulating to consult a healthcare provider before travelling and on return.
The disease's rapid spread, to 21 countries and territories of the region since May 2015, is due to a lack of immunity among the population and the prevalence of the Aedes aegypti mosquito that carries the virus, the WHO said in a statement.
Evidence about other transmission routes is limited.
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