WHO reports rise of neurological disorder in Zika outbreak

It’s a one-day battle in the fight against a tiny enemy: On Saturday, 220,000 Brazilian soldiers are fanning out across the country and knocking on doors to raise awareness about the Zika virus and the mosquito that carries it.

Dr. Hansa Bhargava, a Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta pediatrician and medical editor of WebMD says she thinks women planning a family are getting the message.

While most who contract this mosquito-borne illness suffer few symptoms, the Zika virus, first identified in 1947, is behaving in new, disturbing ways.

The Zika virus is spread by mosquitoes and the current outbreak has affected 34 countries, including 26 countries in the Americas, WHO said.

However, for the moment, no formal link has been established between these congenital malformations in newborns and the virus. More alarmingly, there’s increasing evidence linking Zika infection in pregnant women with microcephaly, a condition in which infants are born with smaller heads and, potentially, incomplete brain development.

Beginning with the first incidence occurring in monkeys in Uganda in 1947, the Zika virus has trickled across the globe until the recent outbreak in Brazil and many other Latin American and Caribbean countries and territories.

Warning that pregnant women were especially at risk, Rousseff urged all Brazilians to come together.

So far, more than 500,000 people, including 222,000 soldiers, have been dispatched to help the mosquito eradication efforts in Brazil.

“The government is taking the lead but that alone won’t win the war”, she added.

“Let me go on record as saying I do not anticipate that we will see it, but we will monitor for it, and we will test for it”, said Theodore G. Andreadis, director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station.

The troops handed out leaflets with the slogan ‘a mosquito is not stronger than an entire country, ‘ and advised residents to keep water tanks tightly covered, turn open bottles upside down and store tires in places where they won’t collect water.

The Health Ministry said in its weekly bulletin on the subject that 462 cases of microcephaly have been confirmed, another 765 have been dismissed, and 3,852 patients are still being examined. Its suspected link to the birth defect microcephaly and to neurological disorder Guillain-Barre syndrome has generated alarm among public health officials, though an association has not been proven. However, scientists can’t point to one or the other with certainty.

In reply, Rousseff said “Zika does not jeopardise the games”, and in combating the virus, “some cities will have priority like Rio de Janeiro”, which will host next August the biggest sports event in the world. Yesterday, Colombia’s national health institute said more than 5,000 pregnant women were infected with Zika.

There is deep concern for pregnant women because Zika virus may linked to a rare, but potentially devastating birth defects. Al Franken in particular merits praise for pushing to provide valuable financial incentives to private industry to produce new Zika treatments or a vaccine.

The World Health Organization on February 1 declared Zika a global health emergency.