February 2, 2016 -- Zika Report

News Clips Without Commentary – Zika spread sexually, and more


From the “news.vice.com” article below comes this information: The Zika virus was first identified in 1947 and was apparently confined to Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific islands until the first cases in the American continent were registered in Brazil in May 2015.

I am paranoid enough to ask the universe why and exactly how did it move from three widely separated areas in 1947 which are off the beaten path in general, to the Americas in 2015, where it is with apparent suddenness spreading “explosively.” A little germ warfare, huh? More likely is that it has been around in other parts of the world before it was diagnosed, but not suspected of any serious disease issues, so that world governments, WHO and the CDC were not watching it.

Even if that is the case, something different seems to have happened in Brazil this last year when the incidence of microcephaly there went from a normal rate of some 400 cases a year to several thousand just in 2015 at the same time that lots of medically identified cases of Zika illness popped up. It might be an unrelated coincidence, but I doubt it. Was it more common in the populations of South and Central America as well without causing remark? Or did the virus, presumably carried by travelers from Africa just recently, mutate in that time period to the more frightening form that it now exhibits? No report I’ve seen so far has said that, but it seems likely to me.

This Dallas, TX human to human transmission is the first US case in which someone who has it did not contract it while abroad. It is also the first case, as far as I’ve seen that was transmitted from human to human except in utero. Finally, it is now added to the list of scary diseases that can be spread sexually. For heavens’ sake, people, keep your arms and legs covered, use a mosquito repellant containing DEET, and use a condom every time.

Read (or scan) through the articles given below for new information. I know much of it will be repetitive. This situation is just like the Ebola outbreak last year that ended up in the US. It frightens people to such a degree that the presses are full of it, and the public keeps wanting more. I am grateful to see that the President, Congress, governments around the world are paying close attention to the matter and seeking answers.

One of the articles below goes into the matter of wetlands throughout the South which harbor countless mosquitoes. Will we take DDT out of mothballs and use it again? Hopefully there will be some other effective ways to control the hateful biting bugs by 2016, but control them we must. The following article looks like a fun way to learn more means of control: 6abc.com,‎ “Jamaica uses reggae beat to drive home Zika mosquito control, Health Ministry' zippy PSA demonstrates mosquito control.” 5 hours ago.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/02/02/dallas-reports-case-of-zika-spread-through-sexual-transmission/

Dallas reports case of Zika spread through sex; CDC urges condom use
By Lena H. Sun, Ariana Eunjung Cha and Brady Dennis
February 2 at 6:02 PM

Play Video – What You Need To Know About The Zika Virus: Authorities have confirmed more than 30 cases of Zika virus in the United States. Here's what you need to know. (Gillian Brockell/The Washington Post)
[Graphic: What you need to know about Zika]
[WHO declares global health emergency, says causal link to brain defects strongly suspected]
[Zika crisis: What is microcephaly? And what does this mean for babies?]


Dallas health officials said Tuesday that a local resident was infected with the Zika virus by having sex with a person who had contracted the disease while traveling in Venezuela.

The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention said the traveler and the sexual partner tested positive for Zika virus, which has been linked to birth defects in Brazil.

This represents the first case of someone being infected while in the United States during this outbreak, the CDC said Tuesday. The other Zika cases in the United States have all involved people who have returned from Zika-affected regions. The CDC is now urging sexual partners to wear condoms to prevent sexually transmitted infections.

"CDC has confirmed through laboratory testing the first case of U.S. Zika virus infection in a non-traveler in the continental United States," the agency said in a statement.

"According to a Dallas County Health Department investigation, a person who recently traveled to an area with Zika virus transmission returned to the United States and developed Zika-like symptoms. The person later tested positive for Zika, along with their sexual partner, who had not traveled to the area. In this instance there was no risk to a developing fetus," the CDC statement said.

Public health officials have stressed that the Zika virus, which has now spread to nearly 30 countries and regions, is transmitted primarily by mosquitoes. There have been isolated reports of transmission through sexual activity. But if the virus is shown to be transmitted readily through sexual contact, it could only further complicate efforts to halt Zika's spread.

The CDC is now saying that the best way to avoid Zika virus infection is to prevent mosquito bites and for sexual partners to wear condoms to prevent sexually transmitted infections.

"We do not have definitive information on the infectious time period, and will provide more guidance for individuals and clinicians as we learn more," the agency said. "Sexual partners can protect themselves by using condoms to prevent spreading sexually transmitted infections. People who have Zika virus infection can protect others by preventing additional mosquito bites.

CDC said it will issue guidance in the coming days on prevention of sexual transmission of Zika virus, with a focus on the male sexual partners of women who are or who may be pregnant.

Until more is known, the agency said, the CDC continues to recommend that women and women trying to become pregnant postpone travel to the areas where Zika virus transmission is ongoing. Pregnant women who live in or travel to one of these areas should talk to their doctor or other health-care professional first and strictly follow steps to avoid mosquito bites during the trip.

Pregnant women should also avoid exposure to semen from someone who has been exposed to Zika virus, the agency said. Women trying to become pregnant should consult with their health-care professional if their partner has had exposure to Zika virus.

Health experts said the Dallas case raises new questions about how the virus is spread.

“It looks like a pretty well documented case of sexual transmission,” said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

“Obviously, this adds a new dimension that needs to be addressed,” he said, noting CDC’s plans to update its guidance on the subject.

Still, he agreed with other researchers that many unanswered questions remain when it comes to how Zika is transmitted sexually. “How long is it contained in the semen? Is it a day or a week or a month?” he said. “Or is it like Ebola, which we know can remain in semen for several months? … We just don’t know.”

For privacy reasons, Dallas health authorities said they are not providing additional identifying information.

“Now that we know Zika virus can be transmitted through sex, this increases our awareness campaign in educating the public about protecting themselves and others,” said Zachary Thompson, DCHHS director. “Next to abstinence, condoms are the best prevention method against any sexually transmitted infections.”

Dallas health officials on Tuesday declined to disclose details about the two people involved, including their age or sex. They said they have been tracking the case for about a week or two.

Christopher Perkins, the medical director for Dallas County, said in an interview Tuesday that the incident began with a traveler who likely had gotten infected through a mosquito bite while in Venezeula. The person then returned to Dallas County and had sex with the second person, who soon began suffering flu-like symptoms and visited the doctor.

Perkins said the doctor recommended the person be screened for Zika after deducing that he or she had not traveled outside the Dallas area and had gotten sick after having sex with the traveler returning from Venezeula. In addition, he said, mosquitoes in Texas are still rare this time of year, making it even more likely the disease was transmitted through sexual contact.

Perkins said officials sent blood samples to the CDC about two weeks ago. The CDC ruled out other possible infections from dengue and chikungunya, he said, eventually confirming the Zika diagnosis.

Perkins said Zika’s arrival in Texas “is not a cause for panic.” People presumably have lifetime immunity to the disease and aren't a threat anymore. He said the lack of mosquitoes this time of year in Texas also lowers the risk of potential infections. “That works in our favor; the mosquitoes aren’t as active right now,” he said.

More important for now, Perkins said, is for people who travel to countries where Zika is present to use repellent, wear long sleeves and pants and avoid mosquito-heavy environments as much as possible.

Researchers have been speculating about the possibility of transmission of Zika virus through sexual contact since 2008, when an American scientist who had been traveling in southeastern Senegal was suspected of transmitting it to his wife.

In the days after his return to Colorado, the man and his wife had sex. Several days after that, the man became symptomatic, experiencing swollen ankles, a rash on his torso and extreme fatigue and headache, but no fever, according to a description published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. His wife – who had not traveled out of the country in the previous year – experienced similar symptoms.

The man and his wife’s infections with Zika were confirmed through blood tests, but the researchers did not investigate whether the virus was present in his semen. Researchers speculated at the time that infected semen may have transmitted the virus, or that another bodily fluid, such as saliva, could be responsible. They did note that the illness did not develop in the couple's four children, however.

Brian Foy, an associate professor at Colorado State University who works on infectious diseases and the lead author of the paper, subsequently told journalists he was the scientist being discussed.

The issue came up again in 2013 when doctors in French Polynesia isolated a high concentration of actively replicating virus in a 44-year-old man’s semen and concluded that “this observation supports the possibility that [Zika virus] could be transmitted sexually.”

The World Health Organization designated the Zika virus and its suspected complications in newborns as a public health emergency of international concern Monday. The action, which the international body has taken only three times before, paves the way for the mobilization of more funding and manpower to fight the mosquito-borne pathogen spreading "explosively" through the Americas.

This post has been updated




https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/02/01/zika-virus-and-microcephaly-scientists-investigate-mystery-of-whether-mosquito-bite-is-responsible-for-brain-defect/?tid=a_inl

Zika crisis: What is microcephaly? And what does this mean for babies?
By Ariana Eunjung Cha
February 2 at 8:33 AM

Photograph -- David Henrique Ferreira, 5 months, who was born with microcephaly, is held by his mother, Mylene Helena Ferreira, as they see a doctor on Monday in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
[Why Zika isn't causing birth defects in Colombia. It may only be a matter of time.]
Play Video -- Zika prevention measures set up across the Americas


What is microcephaly and what causes it?

The term refers to a rare neurological condition in which children have unusually small heads. In many cases it also means a baby's brain is smaller and may not have developed properly. The condition can be caused by hundreds of factors, both genetic and environmental. Genetic disorders associated with microcephaly include Down's syndrome and other chromosomal disorders. Possible environmental factors include lack of oxygen to a baby’s brain in utero or during birth, drug/alcohol use during pregnancy, malnutrition, injury to the brain, exposure to radiation or toxins. Infections such as chicken pox or rubella have also been documented to lead to the condition.

[WHO declares global public health emergency, says causal link to brain defects ‘strongly suspected’]

What is the prognosis for a child with the condition?

The spectrum of ways in which microcephaly can affect a child is wide. About 10 percent of children are born with normal intelligence, and having a small head is mostly a superficial issue. At the other end are those who cannot talk or walk and need constant care. Then there are those in between who are high-functioning but have intellectual disabilities, difficulties with speech or coordination, or seizures. While there’s no treatment or way to reverse the condition, early intervention treatments — such as speech therapy, occupational therapy and other special needs therapy — have helped some children.

Ganeshwaran H. Mochida, a pediatric neurologist and researcher at Boston Children’s Hospital, explained in an interview that “microcephaly is not a single disease.” “It’s a physical sign diagnosed by measuring one’s head size by tape measure, and then you compare the size with the standard growth curve,” he said. Mochida said there is no consensus about where the cut-off is for head size, but it is typically two to three standard deviations smaller than the norm for the baby's gender and age.

Seminars and informational classes for pregnant women across Central and South America hope to keep the Zika virus at bay. (Reuters)

Mochida said that the prognosis often depends on the cause of the microcephaly. In the cases of viruses, which may also apply to Zika, he said that babies with more severe effects may have been infected during the first trimester because that is when the brain is forming.

Early reports of cases in Brazil seem to indicate that many of the cases are on the more severe end, with some of the babies born with microcephaly having died as a result of miscarriage or shortly after birth.


"[We] are seeing babies who have severe microcephaly, much more than we would expect," Cynthia Moore, an expert in birth defects with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a recent press briefing. "Close follow-up is needed for regular checkups to monitor and evaluate these affected babies."

How common is microcephaly?

In the United States, officials estimate that 25,000 children are born with microcephaly each year, but experts say that not all of them suffer from a neurological condition (see above).

I’ve seen a lot of the heartbreaking pictures of the babies with the condition Brazil. Can you bring me up to date on what is going on there?

Brazilian doctors have reported 4,000 suspected cases of microcephaly versus 147 in 2014. The clusters of cases appear to coincide with the regions where Zika virus is most active. Health officials in the northern part of the country were the first to report their suspicions, and after Brazilian officials began tracking the condition more closely they found a staggering number of other cases. There has been some talk that the big jump in suspected cases in Brazil reflects a greater degree of awareness and that the numbers in the past may have reflected under-reporting. But most global public health officials agree that probably only explains some of the increase — and that there still appears to be a very real and worrisome issue.

What about the cases in French Polynesia?

The country had an outbreak of Zika virus that affected more than 30,000 people, and officials did not notice an increase in microcephaly cases at the time. But after the Brazilian data was out, officials went back and saw an increase in microcephaly cases in French Polynesia, as well. Officials have said the number of microcephaly cases was small and have not said whether any had been confirmed to be associated with Zika through blood or other tests.

A 6-week-old baby born with microcephaly is treated at the Lessa de Andrade clinic during a physical therapy session on Friday in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
What kind of tests are scientists conducting to try to figure out whether there is a link?

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists worked with Brazilian authorities to test samples from two pregnancies that ended in miscarriage and from two infants with diagnosed microcephaly who died shortly after birth. All four were positive for Zika virus infection, which appears to indicate they may have been exposed while their mothers were pregnant. Tests showed that the infants who died after birth also had Zika virus in the brain. Genetic sequencing of the virus shows it’s the same as the Zika virus found in Brazil.

I'm worried--I'm pregnant and recently traveled to a region on the CDC list. How soon will my physician be able to tell if something's wrong?

Here's what the CDC's Moore told The Washington Post in an email:

“We've been told by clinical experts in maternal-fetal medicine and it is our impression from the literature that it is very difficult to accurately determine microcephaly at the mid-pregnancy ultrasound that most women get as part of routine prenatal care at about 20 weeks. From reports by Brazilian physicians it appears that around 30 weeks is when the microcephaly is best detected along with the ‎abnormalities of the developing brain.

One of the challenges is that the timing of the damage to the brain and resultant small head ‎probably varies depending on when in pregnancy the infection occurred. Other signs that may also be picked up such as brain calcifications are also variable in the time they are detected by ultrasound. This is the best information we have at this time but of course subject to change as we get more information.”

That sounds like some pretty strong evidence. Why are public health officials saying the association is still only suspected?

There's still a lot of work to be done. Scientists have only been able to confirm the simultaneous presence of the virus and microcephaly in a limited number of babies and are still working their way through other suspected cases to get more information. Brazil is a large country, and there are cases in far-flung states. Part of the reason for the delay is that diagnostic tools to tell whether someone has had Zika are still not readily available. The virus typically clears a person’s blood within a few days to a week, meaning that it’s tricky to detect a past infection. In some cases, tests are able to tell someone had some kind of Zika-like infection in the past but are unable to tell whether it was actually Zika or a similar virus known as dengue fever.

What's next?

Experts say more epidemiological evidence is needed that looks at groups of pregnant women with and without the Zika virus to rule out other factors such as fetal alcohol syndrome, environmental factors or other types of infections.

One important issue is that the mosquito that carries Zika is also known to carry a large number of other viruses like yellow fever, and researchers are investigating whether past infections with other viruses may play a role. World Health Organization officials have said that some of the women who have been tested showed evidence of prior infections with other viruses while others did not — adding to the mystery of what's happening in Brazil.

Finally, if there is a link, researchers must then figure out the biological mechanism of how Zika causes the condition — how it enters the placenta and how it disturbs brain development. Many of those types of experiments could take years to complete.

Mochida, from Boston Children's, said another issue that needs to be looked at is whether women who had babies with the microcephaly are at risk of having other children with the same condition, and to come up with a comprehensive plan for what could be large numbers of children suffering from the condition. He said that local providers should have hope that a better outcome for the child is possible.

A child's "brain is still very plastic," Mochida said. "Even if certain parts [are] damaged or underdeveloped, sometimes with enough intervention early on we are surprised how much they are capable of."

Staff writer Lena H. Sun contributed to this report.

This post has been updated.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/02/02/why-isnt-zika-causing-birth-defects-in-colombia-it-may-only-be-a-matter-of-time/?tid=a_inl

Why isn’t Zika causing birth defects in Colombia? It may only be a matter of time.
By Julia Symmes Cobb, Lena H. Sun and Nick Miroff
February 2 at 7:00 AM

Photograph -- A six-week-old baby born with microcephaly is treated at the Lessa de Andrade polyclinic during a physical therapy session in Recife, Brazil. In Colombia, over 2,000 pregnant women have been diagnosed with Zika, and authorities are watching to see if their babies have microcephaly. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)


BOGOTA -- No country outside Brazil has confirmed more Zika cases than Colombia — including more than 2,100 pregnant women who have had the virus.

But so far health officials have not found a single case of the birth defect known as microcephaly among those expectant mothers.

Is that a reason to doubt what the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday was a "strong" suspicion that the mosquito-borne virus is to blame for Brazil's big increase in the number of babies born with unusually small heads and damaged brains?

In a word: no. It's just too early to tell, experts say.

Brazil and French Polynesia are the only two places so far where health officials have linked the virus to an apparent increase in microcephaly. This is one reason global health officials are watching Colombia closely for similar evidence.

“Colombia will tell us a lot,” said Marcos Espinal, director of communicable diseases and health analysis for the Pan American Health Organization.

Authorities there are monitoring pregnant women who have already been diagnosed with Zika, he said.

But one challenge is that the birth defects don't typically appear in a fetus until the end of the second trimester or the beginning of the third, according to experts. Other types of damage can't be detected until birth, or even later, they say — and many of the Zika cases are fresh. Researchers only detected transmission of Zika in Colombia last October, while it had emerged in Brazil at least five months earlier.

Cynthia Moore, an expert on birth defects at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said it is very difficult to accurately determine microcephaly from the mid-pregnancy ultrasound that most women get as part of routine prenatal care at about 20 weeks.

“From reports by Brazilian physicians, it appears that around 30 weeks is when the microcephaly is best detected along with the ‎abnormalities of the developing brain,” she said.

Brazilian authorities have received more than 4,000 reports of suspected microcephaly cases linked to Zika. But in the first 762 cases they have examined, only 270 had microcephaly that appeared to be caused by Zika or another infection. (Microcephaly can also be caused by genetic disorders and such things as maternal alcohol abuse).

The WHO says it also suspects Zika could be linked to a neurological affliction called Guillain-Barre syndrome, which can cause paralysis.

Brazilian officials say that 400,000 to 1.5 million citizens may have been infected with Zika, and global health officials are bracing for 4 million cases in the Americas this year.

To date Colombia has reported more than 20,000 cases of the virus, which has spread "explosively" to 24 countries and territories in the hemisphere, according to WHO officials.

Zika has no vaccine or treatment, and researchers are only beginning to study whether it is definitively linked to microcephaly and other birth defects.

The city of Barranquilla, on Colombia's hard-hit Caribbean coast, has started fumigating the streets ahead of its annual Carnival celebrations. Almost 2,000 cases have been recorded in the area.

“We want communities to identify focal points of mosquitoes and report them to local authorities so they can be eliminated,” Colombian Health Minister Alejandro Gaviria said in a statement. “That way we stop the proliferation and the contagion.”

Gaviria has asked women to delay pregnancy for six to eight months and said confirmation of Zika infection — and possible damage to the fetus — could allow women to qualify for abortions, which are illegal except for circumstances such as rape or risks to the mother's health.

Nearly 40 percent of infected pregnant women in Colombia live in eastern Norte de Santander province, the national health institute said in a bulletin last weekend, along the country’s border with Venezuela.

The Health Ministry expects up to 650,000 Zika infections.



http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2016/1/27/more-zika-cases-found-in-european-tourists.html

More Zika cases found in Europe as Obama seeks to stem spread to US
Denmark, Switzerland latest countries to confirm infections among tourists returning from Latin America

Lena H. Sun is a national reporter for The Washington Post, focusing on health.
Nick Miroff is a Latin America correspondent for The Post, roaming from the U.S.-Mexico borderlands to South America’s southern cone. He has been a staff writer since 2006.

January 27, 2016 8:45AM ET


Denmark and Switzerland on Wednesday joined a growing number of European countries to report Zika infections among travelers returning from Latin America, where the mosquito-borne virus has been blamed for a surge in birth defects. The fresh cases in Europe came as President Barack Obama called for the rapid development of tests, vaccines and treatments to fight the virus amid fears of a spread to the United States.

"A Danish tourist who traveled to Central and South America was diagnosed on his return with the Zika virus," a hospital in eastern Denmark said in a statement late Tuesday.

The Danish patient was a young man who was expected to make a full recovery, the head of Aarhus hospital, Lars Ostergaard, told public broadcaster DR.

Two people returning to Switzerland from Haiti and Colombia were also diagnosed with the virus, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health said.

Neither was pregnant and neither required hospital care, the statement said.

Health watchdogs in a string of European countries meanwhile said they had recorded Zika cases dating back to as early as March 2015. The Netherlands confirmed 10 cases and Britain five, all among people returning from South America.

In Italy, the Spallanzani National Institute of Infectious Disease said four cases were recorded in March 2015, while in Portugal, the health ministry said four of its citizens had been infected.

All eight had been traveling in Brazil.

A woman in the Swedish capital Stockholm was diagnosed with the virus in July 2015, the Swedish Public Health Agency confirmed Wednesday.

"The symptoms were treated and the woman recovered," said Karin Tegmark Wisell, head of microbiology at the health agency. In Moscow, Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said the Russia authorities had been "monitoring (Zika) since it appeared.

"Now we are working on controlling it as soon as any strange strains appear ... to have domestic medication for prevention and treatment."

President Vladimir Putin said: "We need to pay attention to this ... work with transportation companies, airlines, understand the signs and react quickly," adding "of course mosquitoes cannot fly over the ocean, but infected people can and do."

There is no vaccine or specific treatment for Zika, a flu-like disease with a rash that goes unnoticed in 70 to 80 percent of cases.

Meanwhile, President Obama was briefed on the potential spread of the virus by his top health and national security officials on Tuesday.

"The president emphasized the need to accelerate research efforts to make available better diagnostic tests, to develop vaccines and therapeutics, and to ensure that all Americans have information about the Zika virus and steps they can take to better protect themselves from infection," the White House said in a statement.

Most patients treat the symptoms simply with painkillers and other medication.

The virus is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito after it takes a blood meal from an infected person. The insect can also carry dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.

Zika was first reported in Africa, Asia and the Pacific before leaping to the Americas, where it has been linked to a jump in the number of babies born with microcephaly, or abnormally small heads, particularly in Brazil.

The tally of cases of microcephaly in Brazil surged from 163 per year on average to 3,893 after the Zika outbreak began last year. Forty-nine of the babies have died.

Some 20 Latin American and Caribbean countries have been swept up in the outbreak, which has extended as far north as Mexico. Travelers have also brought it back to the US states of Florida, Hawaii and New York.

So far there have been no known cases of local transmission — infections that are generated within a country — in the U.S. or Europe, although France said such cases had occurred in its departments and territories in the Caribbean basin.

Wire services



http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/feb/1/congress-pushes-obama-administration-answers-zika/

Congress pushes Obama administration for answers on Zika
WHO says virus linked to birth defect is a public health emergency
By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times –
Monday, February 1, 2016

Photograph -- Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks at the Economic Club of Washington on various topics including the Zika virus, Friday, Jan. 29, 2016, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)


Pointing up growing fears over the spread of the Zika virus, both the U.S. Congress and the United Nations mobilized Monday on ways to step up the fight against the disease.

In Washington, lawmakers pressed the Obama administration Monday if it was doing enough to understand and combat the virus, a mosquito-borne agent that is coming into the U.S. from Latin America and has been linked to a serious birth defect.

$5 stock projected to surge 2,700% following imminent FDA announcement.
And in Geneva, the World Health Organization on Monday declared Zika’s spread to be a “public health emergency of international concern,” a designation that kicks off a concentrated, global fight against the disease.

The U.N. health agency convened an emergency meeting of independent experts in Geneva to assess the outbreak after noting a suspicious link between Zika’s arrival in Brazil last year and a surge in the number of babies born with abnormally small heads, the Associated Press reported.

“After a review of the evidence, the committee advised that the clusters of microcephaly and other neurological complications constitute an extraordinary event and public health threat to other parts of the world,” WHO Director-General Margaret Chan told reporters in Geneva.

WHO estimates there could be up to 4 million cases of Zika in the Americas in the next year, but no recommendations were made to restrict travel or trade.

On Capitol Hill, the House Energy and Commerce Committee said the U.S. homeland is at great risk as the virus creeps through more than 20 countries in the Americas.

The threat of domestic transmission will only increase as temperatures rise, allowing more mosquitoes to breed.

“Infectious disease models estimate as many as 200 million people in the U.S. live in areas that might be conductive to the spread of Zika during summer months,” Committee Chairman Fred Upton, Michigan Republican, the committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. of New Jersey, and four other members wrote to the Centers for Disease Control.

The committee also asked the National Institutes of Health and Health and Human Services Department for an update on Zika — a virus of African origin that hadn’t reached the Americas until spring of last year — and promised to hold a hearing in the coming weeks.

The emerging threat is reminiscent of the Ebola scare that roiled the global health community and Congress in late 2014.

WHO officials were criticized for their slow response to that outbreak, while the Obama administration resisted GOP calls to impose a travel ban on people from the most infected regions overseas.

Though the diseases are different — Ebola killed more than 11,000 in West Africa, while Zika typically causes a mild illness — the latter’s link to a birth defect has at-risk countries on edge.

Though many infected persons do not show symptoms, Brazil and other Latin American countries have reported an uptick in the number of babies born with that abnormally small heads — a condition known as microcephaly.

“The experts agreed that a causal relationship between Zika infection during pregnancy and microcephaly is strongly suspected, though not yet scientifically proven,” Ms. Chan said Tuesday. “All agreed on the urgent need to coordinate international efforts to investigate and understand this relationship better.”



https://news.vice.com/article/the-zika-virus-is-spreading-through-the-americas-very-quickly

The Zika Virus Is Spreading Through the Americas Very Quickly
By Gabriela Gorbea
January 25, 2016 | 5:10 pm

Photo via CDC -- Image of a growth of Zika viruses

The World Health Organization has warned that the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which has been linked to abnormal births, is likely to spread to all countries in the Americas, except Canada and Chile.

The warning comes amid evidence of a possible link between Zika and an increase in the number of babies born with abnormally small heads in Brazil, at the same time as evidence accumulates that the virus is advancing throughout the region.

The WHO also seconded an earlier warning from the US Centers for Disease Control to pregnant women to avoid areas where the virus has been found. Both organizations also called on women in those places to take special precautions.

"Pregnant women should be especially careful to avoid mosquito bites," the WHO said in a statement on Sunday. "Women who believe they have been exposed to the Zika virus should consult with their healthcare provider for close monitoring of their pregnancy."

Related: Are Mosquitoes Behind an Increase in Brazilian Babies Born with Abnormally Small Heads?

Meanwhile, the authorities in five countries in the region — El Salvador, Colombia, Honduras, Jamaica and Ecuador — have urged women to delay plans to have children.

"We would like to suggest that women of fertile age take measures to plan their pregnancies and avoid getting pregnant in the next year and a half," El Salvador's deputy minister of health, Eduardo Espinoza, told reporters last week.

The Colombian health authorities have circulated a recommendation that "all couples in national territory" should avoid pregnancies until July. They also advised pregnant women living above 2,200 meters (7,217 feet) not to travel to lower-lying areas, where the mosquitoes thrive.

The symptoms of the illness are similar to those of dengue fever, which is also carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. They include fever and a rash, as well as joint and muscle pain. The Centers for Disease Control, however, has said that approximately 80 percent of the people that get infected with Zika are asymptomatic.

The sudden emergence of concern over Zika began in November when the Brazilian health ministry announced it was investigating whether the virus was behind a sharp increase in cases of babies born with microcephaly, a condition that means they have abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains.

Now Brazilian researchers are also investigating possible links between the virus and Guillan-Barré syndrome, in which the body's immune system attacks parts of the central nervous system.

Related: Virus Suspected of Shrinking the Heads of Brazilian Babies Arrives in Puerto Rico

The Zika virus was first identified in 1947 and was apparently confined to Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific islands until the first cases in the American continent were registered in Brazil in May 2015.

According to the WHO the virus has now been detected in 21 countries in the continent. The organization said that it has advanced particularly fast both because the mosquito is widespread, and because local populations have yet to develop any immunity to the disease.

Mexico's authorities have so far confirmed 15 Zika cases, but refrained from issuing any general warnings.

"We don't have an epidemiological alert yet in Mexico, but considering the rapid spread of the virus and the fact that we already have cases shows that we must be on alert," Carmen Robles, former deputy director of La Raza Medical Center in Mexico City, told VICE News. "The best we can do is prevent, just like what we've done in the past with dengue."

The only reported cases so far in the US have involved people who have returned from other countries where the virus is present.

As the virus and the associated fear about its consequences extends, the race is on to develop a vaccine.

"We've got no drugs and we've got no vaccines. It's a case of deja vu because that's exactly what we were saying with Ebola," Trudie Lang, a professor of global health at the University of Oxford, told Reuters. "It's really important to develop a vaccine as quickly as possible."

Related: Mexico Becomes the First Country to Greenlight a Vaccine for Dengue Fever

Saana Ihamäki contributed to this report.