Zika Virus Spreads to 20 Latin American Countries

The virus was discovered in Uganda in 1947, according to The Telegraph, and has been an issue only in Africa and Asia.

An outbreak of the mosquito-borne virus Zika is affecting large parts of Latin America and the Caribbean and spreading quickly through the region.

Public Health England says the virus “is not spread directly from person to person” and “if a person acquires ZIKV overseas and becomes ill on their return to the United Kingdom, they can’t pass the infection on to anyone else”.

“We’d like to suggest to all the women of fertile age that they take steps to plan their pregnancies, and avoid getting pregnant between this year and next”, said Deputy Health Minister Eduardo Espinoza.

“Most people who are infected don’t know they are infected”, Ko said, adding the illness is acute with symptoms usually quite mild, lasting just three to five days.

Ways to suppress the disease focuses on mosquito bite prevention, such as using insecticides, special nets and screens. The birth defect is called microcephaly and involves babies being born with smaller than expected heads that may not have developed properly.

“Mosquitoes that spread Zika, chikungunya and dengue are aggressive daytime biters, prefer to bite people, and live indoors and outdoors near people”.

The Fiocruz biomedical center in Curitiba announced it had found Zika in the placenta of a woman who had a miscarriage, proving the virus can reach the foetus.

In Brazil, the authorities reported more than 3,500 cases of microcephaly this past year, which is a dramatic increase from the 150 cases that were confirmed in 2014.

-The virus has been reported in 14 countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean including: Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela and Puerto Rico.

Beyond the possible problems for pregnant women and their babies, it appears that anyone who catches Zika can later develop Guillain-Burre Syndrome, which is a progressive paralysis that starts in the legs and can be life threatening.

There have already been thousands of children born in Brazil with microcephaly.

While the link between Zika virus infection, microcephaly and other poor pregnancy outcomes is not well understood, pregnant women in any trimester are still advised to consider postponing travel to areas where Zika virus transmission is ongoing.

The defect can also be caused by genetics, as well as exposure during pregnancy to alcohol and certain germs and toxic chemicals, health officials caution.