Zika's impact intensifies across Latin America and the Caribbean.
| Autor | Marris, Johanna |
Until last year, the Zika virus was relatively unknown. After its discovery in 1947, it largely remained confined to areas of Africa and South East Asia, with few cases reported each year. With mild symptoms--many of which can be confused with dengue fever--such as a high temperature, rash and joint pain, it received little attention and interest from the international medical community.
But on Feb. 1, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a public health emergency due to the virus. From outbreaks in French Polynesia in 2013 and in Easter Island, Chile, in 2014, it had spread through Brazil at an alarming pace during 2015 (NotiSur, Feb. 19, 2016). Then between December and January, the number of cases skyrocketed throughout the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean, with new countries being added continually to the list of those with local transmission of the disease.
A sense of global panic has emerged due to the suspected connection between Zika and both microcephaly in infants, a birth defects that can cause brain damage, and Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), a rare neurological disease that can lead to paralysis. Concern is also growing over methods of transmission. The virus was initially known to spread through the Aedes aegypti mosquito, but there are now cases of suspected sexual transmission in the US and Argentina. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US has said the virus can also, if rarely, be transmitted from mothers to babies during labor and through blood transfusions.
A lack of knowledge about the virus is largely to blame for the escalation of the epidemic into an international crisis. Brazilian authorities have admitted that they were not quick to act or monitor the virus initially due to the mild nature of the symptoms. Collaborative research between the US and Brazil is now underway to better understand the virus and develop a vaccine, while technical teams have been sent to countries with major outbreaks, such as Colombia, in order to coordinate an effective response. The initial lack of urgency, however, has already taken its toll. Over 5,600 cases of microcephaly and central nervous system malformation have been reported in Brazil, with 120 deaths. Adult deaths due to complications from the virus have also been reported in Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, and El Salvador.
Continent-wide expansion
The first cases of Zika appeared in Brazil in mid-2014; however the virus was not identified...
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