The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the Zika virus will soon spread to all countries of the New World, with the exception of Canada and Chile. The microorganism, considered relatively harmless, has been associated with numerous cases of microcephaly (congenital decrease in the size of the brain and skull, which leads to mental retardation). Reported by The Guardian.
"Although a causal relationship between Zika fever and microcephaly during pregnancy has not yet been established, circumstantial evidence is alarming," said WHO Director Margaret Chan.
Having entered South America in 2015 from Africa and Asia, the Zika virus spread very quickly across the mainland. Infection occurs through the bites of the Aedes aegypti mosquito (they also carry dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever viruses). It is unclear whether the pathogen is sexually transmitted from person to person. The symptoms of the disease are relatively mild: mild headache, rash, fever, joint pain.
There is no cure or vaccine for Zika virus yet. Two large pharmaceutical companies (Glaxosmithkline and Sanofi SA) are just considering a vaccine.
“And here we are again, having just said goodbye to Ebola. Nobody expected the problem to come back so soon. We have no drugs, no vaccines, and I have a sense of déjà vu: it's the same as with Ebola,”said Trudie Lang of the University of Oxford.
In 2015, there were 4,000 cases of microcephaly in newborns in Brazil, which is 30 times more than in 2014 and 2013. The country's authorities plan to tackle the Zika pandemic before the start of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.