2nd pregnant Australian woman tests positive for Zika virus

A vaccine for the Zika virus is at least 18 months away from large-scale trials, according to the World Health Organization.

“It seems indeed that the link with Zika (and microcephaly) is becoming more and more probable” said Marie-Paule Kieny, assistant director-general of the WHO.

The WHO said 15 companies and groups were involved in the Zika vaccine research and development, including U.S. government scientists and an Indian biotechnology firm.

Meanwhile, Kieny told AFP it would take an estimated four to eight weeks to establish whether Zika causes microcephaly and the severe neurological disorder Guillain-Barre syndrome.

A sharp increase in birth defects in Brazil has triggered a global health emergency over the mosquito-borne virus, which had previously been viewed as a relatively mild illness, and has spurred a race to develop a vaccine and better diagnostic tests.

“(But) our knowledge of what is now in the pipeline tells us that it will take approximately 18 months before a vaccine can be launched into large-scale trial to demonstrate efficacy”, Kieny told reporters in Geneva.

In an email blast sent to media Friday, the CDC advised that the best way to prevent the spread of Zika through sex is to avoid sex or use condoms, especially when having sex with someone who has recently traveled to a country where Zika is present.

Dallas County has a leg up on containing the Zika virus thanks to a laboratory set up during the 2014 Ebola scare.

Eighty percent of people who contract the Zika virus show no symptoms.

Zika virus, which is spread by infected mosquitos, has been appearing around the continental United States, mostly in travelers who have visited a Zika-affected area.

Planning is underway for a Zika virus tabletop exercise to ensure Ohio’s preparedness at the local and state levels prior to the 2016 mosquito season, which runs from May to October, ODH said.

Dr. Indu Gupta, the Onondaga County health commissioner, said there have been three documented cases of Zika in New York State so far but admits there are more.

Last month, officials said a baby born in a Hawaii hospital was the first in the country with a birth defect linked to Zika.

If mosquitoes capable of carrying the Zika virus find their way to the area, the Cattaraugus County Health Department’s surveillance and control program could help nip them in the bud.

Officials said her doctor counseled her on the potential risks of microcephaly because of the virus and recommended close monitoring based on recent CDC guidelines issued for pregnant women.

An earlier report from French Polynesia, published a year ago in Emerging Infectious Diseases, revealed that traces of virus were found in the semen of a man infected there during an outbreak in 2013.