The World Health Organisation (WHO), has predicted that the Zika virus, which is spreading through the Americas, will affect between three million and four million people.
An infectious disease expert at the WHO’s Americas regional office, Marcos Espinal, who disclosed this yesterday, however did not give any time frame. The mosquito-borne virus is linked to more than 4,000 babies with brain deformities in Brazil.
Director General of the WHO, Margaret Chan, said the spread of the mosquito-borne disease had gone from a mild threat to one of alarming proportions and is expected to result to a pandemic. Zika is a disease caused by Zika virus that is spread to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito.
Scientists in Brazil believe the devastating virus may has already crossed over to the common mosquito, dramatically increasing the risk of it spreading worldwide.
The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week.
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 per cent of people infected have no symptoms, making it difficult for pregnant women to know whether they have been infected.
WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said the organisation’s will convene an emergency committee on Monday, February 3, to help determine the level of the international response to an outbreak of the virus spreading from Brazil that is believed to be linked to severe birth defects.
