Growing evidence linking Zika to microcephaly

Iowa has recorded its first confirmed Zika virus infection, in a woman who recently traveled to Central America, the state health department reported Friday.

The study’s design should help determine the relative risk of microcephaly in babies whose mothers were infected with Zika.

Preliminary results of the two case control studies conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Brazilian biomedical research centres in the northeastern states of Bahia and Paraiba should be ready “this spring”, said CDC principal deputy director Anne Schuchat.

“There is an increasing accumulation of evidence now that these phenomena may be associated”, Bruce Aylward, WHO chief on outbreaks and health emergencies, told reporters.

County officials said in a news release that mosquito control is already treating the affected area and “will continue treatment procedures over the next several days”, but they would not release details about the location.

Amidst growing fears and increasing numbers of people infected by the mosquito-transmitted virus Zika, the World Heath Organization (WHO) delivered a positive forecast for the Rio Summer Games on Friday.

Brazil’s Health Ministry announced on Wednesday that it was considering most of the 508 confirmed cases of microcephaly in the country to be linked to the Zika outbreak.

Staples said the work could provide stronger confirmation of a link, but that it would take years of scientific investigation to prove whether Zika actually causes microcephaly.

Brazilian authorities estimate up to 1.5 million infections, but they have stopped counting due to the magnitude of the outbreak.

Researchers are closely watching Colombia, the country with the most Zika cases after Brazil, but no microcephaly cases. Companies and scientists are racing to develop a safe and effective vaccine for Zika, but the World Health Organization (WHO) said it would take at least 18 months to start large-scale clinical trials of potential preventative shots. They will also look for other exposures that might explain why a baby developed microcephaly.

Given the frequency of travel between South Africa and a number of countries now experiencing outbreaks of the Zika virus, it was likely that other sporadic imported cases would be seen in South Africa in travellers, as had been the experience in a number of countries, Motsoaledi said.