The World Health Organization has declared the Zika virus a major threat to society. This decision was made in connection with the rapid spread of the disease.
The Zika virus entered South America from Africa and literally in a matter of days became an epidemic. To date, cases of diagnosis of the disease have already been recorded in 23 countries. The main signs of infection are a slight fever, rash, muscle pain and inflammation of the mucous membrane of the eyes, which last for about 7 days. The Zika virus is especially dangerous for pregnant women, it can cause microcephaly in the fetus - congenital underdevelopment of the brain and skull. The virus is carried by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes. In Brazil, cases of the birth of children with microcephaly have increased to 4 thousand per year (previously it was several hundred), and although there is no evidence of a direct effect of the Zika virus on abnormalities in newborns, WHO experts are inclined to its presence.
In connection with the rapid spread of the virus, WHO has declared a global emergency with demands for improved epidemiological surveillance, detection and recording of infections and congenital malformations. Note that the development of a vaccine against the Zika virus has already begun, but experts say the most effective measures to protect against the disease are control over the population of mosquitoes and self-protection from their bites.
Earlier it became known that the Zika virus appeared as a result of scientists' experiments on genetically modified mosquitoes in 2012.
Lyudmila Stepnova