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Zika virus outbreak
Topic Started: 16 Jan 2016, 02:02 AM (817 Views)
skibboy
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15 January 2016

Haiti hit with Zika virus outbreak: official

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© AFP/File | The Zika virus is a mosquito-borne ailment similar to dengue fever that is rapidly spreading through the Caribbean

PORT-AU-PRINCE (AFP) - Haiti's health ministry said Friday the country has been hit by an outbreak of the Zika virus, a mosquito-borne ailment similar to dengue fever that is rapidly spreading through the Caribbean.

Health Minister Florence Duperval Guillaume confirmed the outbreak at a press conference, saying that she too, was recovering from a bout of the illness.

"Even I fell ill," the minister said, although she did not have the diagnosis confirmed by testing.

A health lab in Trinidad and Tobago confirmed on Thursday that five out of 11 Haitian blood samples tested positive for the disease -- a finding suggesting that it could be rampant in this impoverished nation.

There have been no known fatalities from Zika, but the virus is of particular concern to pregnant women, because it can lead to birth defects and miscarriage.

Zika is spread by the Aedes genus of mosquitoes, some varieties of which also spread dengue virus, yellow fever virus and Chikungunya.

A female mosquito bites an infected person and then carries the virus to the next person she bites.

Symptoms, which usually are relatively mild, can include fever, rash, conjunctivitis and headache.

In more serious cases, they can include muscle pain, swelling and an itchy rash.

Haitian officials have been taken to task for what critics said has been a slow response to the outbreak.

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skibboy
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12 February 2016

Zika virus persisted in man's semen for 2 months: report

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© AFP/File | Brochures with information about the Zika virus are seen on February 10, 2016, in Cali, Colombia

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A man in Britain who was infected with Zika while traveling to the Cook Islands showed evidence of the mosquito-borne virus in his semen for two months, health officials said Friday.

The finding raises new questions for health authorities as they scramble to learn more about Zika -- linked to a surge in birth defects in Brazil -- and the risk of transmission through sex.

The case involved a 68-year-old man who was infected with Zika in 2014 while traveling.

He complained of a fever, rash and lethargy upon return to Britain, where he was tested and the results came back positive for Zika.

Though Zika symptoms are often mild and resolve themselves in about a week, the virus was found during tests of semen taken 27 and 62 days after the man's initial infection, said a report from Public Health England, published online in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal.

"Although we did not culture infectious virus from semen, our data may indicate prolonged presence of virus in semen, which in turn could indicate a prolonged potential for sexual transmission," it said.

Speaking at a American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Washington on Friday, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) chief Anthony Fauci said more work needs to be done to understand how long Zika may persist in a man's semen.

"We don't now know," he told reporters.

"We had said, 'Perhaps it is just during the acute infection.' Well, that is obviously not the case."

With Ebola, which comes from the same family of viruses as Zika, research on persistence in semen has shown that it could last up to nine months in some men.

"What we need to do are natural history studies" for the Zika virus in order to determine how long men should use condoms or refrain from sexual contact after a Zika infection, Fauci said.

The CDC last week urged condoms or abstinence for men who live in or have traveled to the more than two dozen countries and territories in South America and the Caribbean where the virus has been detected, especially if they have pregnant partners, in which case protective measures should persist until the end of the pregnancy.

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13 February 2016

Zika likely to spread to large Brazilian cities: expert

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© AFP / by Damian Wroclavsky | Claudio Maierovitch tells AFP the Zika virus is likely to spread this year to Brazil's densely populated cities

BRASÍLIA (AFP) - The Zika virus, linked to a surge in infants born with abnormally small heads, is likely to spread this year to Brazil's densely populated cities where it has barely surfaced, a top health official told AFP.

Zika has struck hard in hot and humid southeastern and central Brazil, but largely spared bigger cities like Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro, said Claudio Maierovitch, head of the communicable diseases surveillance department at the Ministry of Health.

Since October, 462 cases of microcephaly have been confirmed in Brazil, which has a population of 204 million, and more than 3,800 cases are being studied as possibly being related to the virus, according to government figures.

While scientists are racing to develop a vaccine for Zika -- not likely to be ready for at least three years -- and with just six months to go before the opening of the Summer Olympics in Rio, the focus on fighting the virus has turned to exterminating its carrier, the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

Here is a summary of Maierovitch's interview with AFP.


Question: What is currently the most unsettling scenario?

Answer: This is the great fear of the immediate future -- that densely populated states will experience an intense outbreak of the virus that cannot be controlled.

These states include Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Parana, Minas Gerais and Goias that have experienced vast dengue epidemics in the last years.

This leads us to believe that the mosquitos will be present in a very generalized way, and that they could transmit other viruses.


Q: What is the plan until a vaccine is available?

A: The situation today is dramatic.

Brazilians are extremely worried. The most important measure taken by the government has been ... to focus on fighting the mosquito.

It is also possible that, after a first year in which the Brazilian population has not been exposed to the Zika virus, part of the population may become immunized and after some time we can have a larger immune population, which would result in the virus circulating less.


Q: Has the link with microcephaly been proven?

A: We have established conclusively the relationship during pregnancy ... the times and locations coincide.

In these same locations where there was an outbreak of the virus, between six and eight months later children were born with microcephaly.

Many of the mothers who gave birth to infants with microcephaly remember having an infection that is like one described for Zika: rashes, hives and a low-level fever.

Also, we identified the virus in the amniotic fluid of pregnant women whose babies had microcephaly, including within the uterus, and there were cases of children with microcephaly who died soon after being born.


Q: Can the Zika virus be deadly?

A: We don't know if the Zika virus alone is capable of making people so gravely sick that it will result in their death, or if the infection appeared in people who already had other health problems and that this may have contributed to their death.

The number of fatalities is very small when compared to the amount of people who die of dengue.

Last year, there were more than 700 deaths (863 according to government figures) during a very large dengue epidemic totaling some 1.5 million cases.

Our concern remains focused on the pregnant women.


Q: What guarantee does Brazil offer to the Olympic Games?

A: The state and the city of Rio de Janeiro have both invested a lot, and are focusing their mosquito eradication efforts on the places where the games will be played, in the neighborhoods around those areas, and in zones where there are large mosquito infestations.

We also have the natural factor that should help, which is that July and August (winter in the southern hemisphere) are part of a period in which the infestation of Aedes aegypti is very low.

We practically have no cases of dengue starting in July across the country.

Visitors coming for the Olympics will be staying at air conditioned hotels, will be in areas where the mosquito infestation is low, and that should allow spectators and athletes to relax.


Q: What do the models of the epidemic project?

A: Last year, Zika had a transmission curve similar to dengue but it lasted longer.

The number of dengue cases dropped in June and July, while Zika continued for longer -- until July, August. Eventually, we clearly saw the number of cases drop considerably.

At the start of the year, with warmer weather, we already have reports that there is an increase in Zika cases.


by Damian Wroclavsky

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15 February 2016

Brazil finds Zika in microcephaly babies' brains

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© AFP/File | A woman bathes her son, who is suffering from microcephalia caught through an Aedes Aegypti mosquito bite, in Salvador, Brazil on January 28 , 2016

RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) - Brazilian researchers said Monday that the discovery of Zika in the brains of babies with microcephaly adds to growing evidence of a link between the mosquito-transmitted virus and the birth defect.

"We have detected its presence in the brain tissue," Lucia Noronha, a pathologist from the Brazilian Society of Pathology, told AFP.

"The Zika virus caused brain damage and that reinforces evidence of a relationship between Zika and microcephaly," she said.

Earlier, Noronha's team at the PUC-Parana University was the first to discover Zika in the amniotic fluid of pregnant women -- raising alarm over a link between the virus and microcephalic babies, who are born with damaged brains and abnormally small heads.


"We received samples of brain tissue from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. They're the same samples that were sent to the United States, where researchers at the Centers for Disease Control came to the same conclusion: that there is Zika in the fetus' brain," she said.

Brazil is hardest hit by a huge outbreak of Zika, with some 1.5 million people infected.

Although in most cases there are few symptoms, the fear is that pregnant women who become infected risk having babies with the birth defect.

The Health Ministry says that between October and February there were 462 cases of microcephaly, up from an average of 150 previously. Another 3,852 cases are suspected.

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Zika virus: WHO backs GM mosquito trials

16 February 2016

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Trials using modified mosquitoes have been taking place in the Cayman Islands

The World Health Organization (WHO) has backed trials of genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes that could be used in the fight against the Zika virus.

The WHO also said sterile irradiated male mosquitoes could also be released to mate with wild females.

However, environmentalists have warned over the possible consequences of wiping out an entire species.

Zika has been linked to microcephaly in babies, who are born with damaged brains and abnormally small heads.

In a statement, the WHO said it was encouraging affected countries "to boost the use of both old and new approaches to mosquito control as the most immediate line of defence".

Initial trials using genetically modified mosquitoes developed by Oxitec, the British subsidiary of Intrexon, have been taking place in the Cayman Islands and Brazil.

The mosquitoes are altered so that their offspring will die before reaching adulthood and being able to reproduce.

Another technique under consideration involves releasing male mosquitoes that have been sterilised by low doses of radiation.

It has already been used by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to control insects that damage crops.

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The WHO has recommended using newer techniques as well as fumigation to fight Zika

A third option uses Wolbachia bacteria, which do not infect humans but prevent the eggs of infected female mosquitoes from hatching.

Mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia have already been released to reduce dengue fever and the WHO said large-scale trials would be carried out.

The WHO has declared Zika a global emergency, although definitive proof of a link to birth defects has not yet been established.

Scientists in Brazil say they have found more evidence of a link.

Brazil has about 460 confirmed cases of microcephaly and is investigating about 3,850 suspected cases.

The virus has spread throughout Latin-America, but Brazil has been hardest hit.

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16 February 2016

Six pregnant Mexican women infected with Zika

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© AFP/File | A government employee fumigates a home against the Aedes aegypti mosquito to prevent the spread of the Zika virus in Acapulco, Mexico on February 2, 2016

MEXICO CITY (AFP) - Six pregnant women have been infected with Zika in Mexico, the health ministry said Tuesday, amid global fears that the mosquito-borne virus causes a severe birth defect.

The women are among 80 total Zika cases in Mexico, with more than half of them reported in the southern impoverished state of Chiapas, the ministry said.

Among the pregnant women, four are in Chiapas, one in the southern state of Oaxaca and another in Veracruz in the east.

Zika normally causes mild flu-like symptoms and a rash, or goes unnoticed altogether.

But rising anxiety about the virus is driven by its strongly suspected link to microcephaly, which causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads, and the Guillain-Barre syndrome, a severe neurological disorder.

Brazil has been most affected by the outbreak that has spread rapidly through Latin America and the Caribbean, with 1.5 million people in the country infected since early 2015.

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17 February 2016

US issues blood-donating guidelines to combat Zika

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© AFP/File / by Jean-Louis SANTINI | An Aedes Aegypti mosquito is seen at a laboratory of the Ministry of Health of El Salvador in San Salvador

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US health officials on Tuesday issued new guidelines for donating blood aimed at avoiding the contamination of the country's blood supplies with the Zika virus.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), recommended that anyone returning from a region in which the virus is being transmitted or showing signs of a possible infection wait four weeks before giving blood.

Those with confirmed Zika infections also should not donate blood until a month after the illness has been resolved, the FDA said.

Canada and France have already announced similar measures, which are recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The FDA said those who have had sexual contact with people who visited a region in which the virus is circulating within the previous three months are also considered at risk of being infected.

Although no US blood banks have reported Zika contamination to date, the new measures were prompted by the latest scientific information about how Zika and similar viruses are spread, the FDA said.

Two possible cases of transmission through blood transfusion have been reported in Brazil.

The FDA said four of five people infected with Zika show no symptoms.

The United States does not screen travelers arriving in the country for Zika because of the lack of symptoms, the Department of Homeland Security said last week.

The FDA also recommends that areas considered active Zika transmission zones within the United States, which include the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, use blood for transfusion from the US mainland, where the virus is not circulating.

Zika is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which also spreads dengue fever.

The disease normally causes mild flu-like symptoms and a rash, or goes unnoticed altogether.

But it is strongly suspected of causing microcephaly, or abnormally small heads and brains, in babies born to women infected with the virus.

The World Health Organization has declared the rise in Zika-linked birth defects -- mainly in South America -- an international emergency.

by Jean-Louis SANTINI

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Zika virus: Study supports link to microcephaly

By Smitha Mundasad
Health reporter

18 February 2016

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A 10-year-old Brazilian boy holds his two-month-old brother, who was born with microcephaly

Scientists say a study involving pregnant women in Brazil "strengthens" the theory that Zika is linked to microcephaly birth defects in babies.

The research confirmed the presence of Zika virus in the amniotic fluid of two women who had had Zika-like symptoms during their pregnancies.

Brazilian experts say this suggests the virus can infect the foetus.

But WHO experts caution the link is not proven and expect to release more information in the next few weeks.

Urgent investigations

Brazil has seen a rise in microcephaly - babies born with abnormally small heads and, in some cases, problems with brain development - in the last year, at the same time as a rise in the number of people infected with Zika virus.

This has led to a number of studies investigating whether the virus is behind the rise.

The research, published in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases, involved two women who had fever, rash and muscle aches during their pregnancies.

After ultrasound scans revealed their developing foetuses had microcephaly, scientists ran further amniocentesis checks.

This involved taking a small sample of the amniotic fluid that surrounds the foetus in the womb.

Genetic analysis of this fluid confirmed the presence of Zika virus - discounting similar viruses that may have been responsible.

Lead scientist, Dr Ana de Filippis, from the Oswaldo Cruz Institute in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, said: "This study reports details of the Zika virus being identified directly in the amniotic fluid of a woman during her pregnancy, suggesting the virus could cross the placental barrier and potentially infect the foetus."

She added: "This study cannot determine whether the Zika virus identified in these two cases was the cause of microcephaly in the babies.

"Until we understand the biological mechanism linking Zika to microcephaly we cannot be certain that one causes the other, and further research is urgently needed."

Prof Jimmy Whitworth, at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine added that while the research cannot prove the link: "This study does strengthen the body of evidence that Zika virus is the cause of foetal microcephaly in Brazil."

Separately the paper suggests that the virus looks genetically very similar to the Zika virus circulating in French Polynesia in 2013.

But scientists say despite growing research, a lot remains unknown and a number of questions still need urgent answers - including how big the risk of microcephaly is if a woman has Zika virus infection in pregnancy and whether the timing of the infection makes a difference.

Brazil, the country hardest-hit by Zika, has about 508 confirmed cases of microcephaly and is investigating about 3,935 suspected cases.

The ministry said last week that 41 of the confirmed cases of microcephaly had shown links to Zika infection.

Microcephaly can be caused by a range of factors, including genetic conditions, infections and drugs.

Experts say women who are pregnant are most at risk from mosquito-borne Zika and should try to protect themselves from mosquito bites.

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20 February 2016

Mexican woman with Zika gives birth to healthy child

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© AFP/File | Zika, which is spread by mosquitos, has been linked to microcephaly -- a birth defect in which the infant is born with an abnormally small head

MEXICO CITY (AFP) - A woman with a confirmed case of the Zika virus in the southern state of Chiapas gave birth to a "clinically healthy" baby boy, Mexico's health ministry said.

The woman, from the town of Pijijiapan, delivered the six pound (2.8 kilo) boy in a hospital in the city of Tuxtla Gutierrez on Friday.

After an evaluation, the hospital's pediatric center "confirmed that [the infant] is clinically healthy," the health ministry said in a statement late Friday.

The woman is one of six known to have contracted Zika while pregnant.

Zika, which is spread by mosquitos, has been linked to microcephaly -- a birth defect in which the infant is born with an abnormally small head.

There is no cure for microcephaly and no vaccine against Zika.

The other five women "are in good health, they are receiving specialized continuous care and are undergoing periodic ultrasound tests," the statement read.

Two of the women are beyond their 28th week of pregnancy, and several tests show no sign that they are carrying a fetus with microcephaly.

The other three have still not reached the 28 week mark, the statement read.

Of the 80 registered Zika cases in Mexico, 45 are in the southern state of Chiapas, including three of the pregnant women.

On average Mexico, population 122 million, has 600 cases of microcephaly per year.

That figure has not change since the Zika virus outbreak in Latin America, officials said.

Brazil said this week that it has registered 508 cases of microcephaly since October, a huge increase on the average annual number of 150.

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First Zika epidemic 'went unnoticed' in French Polynesia

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© Nicolas Derné / AFP | A billboard in Marinique reads "You have a guest..." in French and features a picture of a mosquito as part of a campaign to fight the Zika virus

Text by Avi DAVIS
2016-02-22

Some scientists say that French authorities did not do enough to stop the spread of the Zika virus after a significant outbreak of the disease in French Polynesia in 2013-2014.

Dr. Didier Musso, who co-authored several papers about the dangers of Zika during the 2013-2014 outbreak, says that French authorities did not take findings by doctors in the French overseas territory seriously enough.

“In 2014 and 2013, the outbreak of Zika [in French Polynesia] went unnoticed in mainland France,” Musso told Le Point in February. “We managed on our own to isolate the virus, update the diagnostic tests, treat the patients and deal with the first severe medical complications, which no one expected.”

The current Zika epidemic in Latin America, where more than 1.5 million people have been infected, is thought to have been transmitted by international travelers from French Polynesia, a French overseas territory in the South Pacific made up of 118 islands, including Tahiti and Bora Bora.

Scientists say the virus sequences of the strains in Brazil and the Pacific are nearly identical.

No longer a benign disease

The Zika outbreak in French Polynesia was the most widespread up to that point.

It affected up to 28,000 people, and more than 10 percent of the local population reported symptoms.

Zika then spread from French Polynesia to New Caledonia (France), the Cook Islands (New Zealand) and Easter Island (Chile).

Musso, along with Sophie Ioos, Henri Pierre Mallet, Van-Mai Cao-Lormeau and other doctors at the Institut Louis Malardé and the Institut de Veille Sanitaire in Tahiti, were some of the first to report that Zika was not a “benign” disease as previously thought.

In late 2013 they linked Zika to Guillain-Barré syndrome, which can cause paralysis and, in some cases, death.

They were also the first medical team to report a possible case of sexual transmission of the disease in early 2015.

‘Heads in the sand’

Musso says authorities ignored the seriousness of the situation in French Polynesia because it was so far away from mainland France.

“When you live at the far end of the world, you get used to coping,” he told Le Point.

Musso also said that when the French High Council on Public Health did finally issue recommendations about Zika in 2015, he was not consulted.

“To be frank, French authorities never ask the opinion of people who have actually experienced these problems,” Musso added.

Others point out that the world health community, and not just the French government, shares the responsibility for ignoring Zika in the Pacific.

In 2007, an outbreak of Zika in the Yap Islands, east of the Philippines, affected approximately 50 people.

It was the first time Zika was detected outside of Africa.

“I think there was not enough attention given to either the Yap or the French Polynesian epidemics by any of us working in infectious diseases,” said Duane Gubler, who studies infectious diseases for Duke University. “We all had our heads in the sand.”

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23 February 2016

Zika virus fight a 'long journey': WHO chief

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© AFP | The director general of the World Health Organization Margaret Chan (L), and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, hold a meeting to talk about the Zika virus at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, on February 23, 2016

BRASÍLIA (AFP) - The head of the World Health Organization warned Tuesday that the fight against Zika, a mosquito-transmitted virus that has been linked to serious birth defects, will be long and complex.

"The Zika virus is very tricky, very tenacious, very difficult," WHO chief Margaret Chan said in the Brazilian capital Brasilia. "We should expect this is going to be a long journey."

Brazil is at the center of a Zika outbreak that has prompted fears of a rapid spread in microcephaly, a congenital condition that causes abnormally small heads and hampers brain development.

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France detects first sexually-transmitted case of Zika virus

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© AFP file photo

2016-02-27

A first case of Zika spread through sexual transmission has been recorded in France after a woman was infected when her partner returned from Brazil, Heath Minister Marisol Touraine told AFP on Saturday.

The case was detected several days ago in "a woman who is not pregnant," the minister told AFP during a visit to French Guiana, confirming information initially given to AFP by a medical source.

The couple lives in the Paris area, the minister's entourage said.

"She showed classic signs of the disease," an official said. "She was not hospitalised and is doing well."

Brazil has been the hardest hit country by the mosquito-borne virus, with 1.5 million cases of active Zika transmission.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that up to 46 countries have reported some level of evidence of Zika infection and that 130 countries are home to the Aedis aegypti mosquito which carries the virus, meaning the eventual spread of the disease could be enormous

In nearly all Zika cases, symptoms are mild, resembling those of flu.

However, the growing belief that Zika can also trigger microcephaly in babies born to mothers infected while pregnant has spread international alarm.

Microcephaly is a congenital condition that causes abnormally small heads and hampers brain development.

There is currently no cure or vaccine against the Zika virus.

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27 February 2016

Colombia reports almost 43,000 Zika cases

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© AFP/File | The aedes aegypti mosquito can transmit the dengue and Zika viruses

BOGOTA (AFP) - Colombia has registered 42,706 cases of people infected with Zika, including 7,653 in pregnant women, the country's National Health Institute reported on Saturday.

The latest count represents an increase of 5,695 new cases of the mosquito-borne virus in the last week, including 1,300 in pregnant women.

Although the disease's symptoms are undetectable or mild in most people -- including low fever, headaches and joint pain -- Zika's rapid spread has raised alarms in Latin America because it has been tentatively linked to a serious birth defect known as microcephaly in babies born to women who became infected while pregnant.

Microcephaly is an irreversible condition in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and brains and suffer damage to their cognitive and motor development.

There is currently no cure or vaccine for Zika.

Clinical exams were used to identify 34,464 cases in Colombia, the health ministry said. Laboratory tests confirmed infections in another 1,612, and 6,630 were listed as suspected Zika infections.

Colombia has reported the largest number of cases in Latin America after Brazil, where the outbreak was first detected last year and where 1.5 million Zika cases have been reported.

The health authorities predict more than 600,000 people will be infected with the Zika virus in Colombia this year, and expect more than 500 cases of microcephaly if trends seen in Brazil are repeated.

The Colombian health ministry has also reported three deaths from Guillain-Barre syndrome, a neurological disorder that is also suspected of being linked to the virus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) -- which has declared the rise in Zika-linked birth defects an international emergency -- warns the virus will probably spread throughout the Americas except Canada and Chile.

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Study shows Zika 'might cause' Guillain-Barré syndrome

By Jane Dreaper
Health correspondent, BBC News

37 minutes ago

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In this Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016, file photo, Aedes aegypti mosquitoes float in a mosquito cage at a laboratory in Cucuta, ColombiaImage copyrightAP

New research gives the first evidence that Zika virus might cause a severe neurological disorder called Guillain-Barré syndrome.

The study was carried out using blood samples from 42 patients who became ill in a previous outbreak.

The Lancet authors say they developed the neurological problems around six days after Zika infection.

Leading scientists described the study as "compelling".

Zika was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in early February.

The virus, which is transmitted by mosquitoes, has caused alarm in central and south America because of its suspected links to under-developed brains in babies - a condition called microcephaly.

But experts have also questioned whether Zika might be linked to another medical condition as well.

Guillain-Barré syndrome leads to muscle weakness and, in severe cases, breathing problems requiring intensive care.

It is a rare response to infection, which sees the immune system attacking peripheral nerves.

Researchers analysed the blood of patients who developed the disorder during a Zika outbreak in the Pacific island of French Polynesia two years ago.

From this work, they predict there could be one case of Guillain-Barré among every 4,000 people falling ill with Zika.

The lead author Professor Arnaud Fontanet, from the Institut Pasteur in Paris, said: "These patients tended to deteriorate more rapidly than we usually see with Guillain-Barré.

"But once they were over the acute phase of the illness, their recovery tended to be better."

None of the 42 patients died but some still needed help walking, several months after they became ill.

The researchers say countries with Zika should prepare for extra cases of the nerve disorder.

'Don't be frightened'

Professor Hugh Willison, from Glasgow University, told BBC News: "On an individual level, we shouldn't be frightening people into thinking that if they get Zika infection they'll automatically get Guillain-Barré - because the risk is actually rather low.

"But if a million people get infected with Zika, that's hundreds of unexpected cases of Guillain-Barré."

Figures from the WHO show that Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Surinam and Venezuela have all reported increased numbers of cases of the syndrome in recent weeks.

Dr Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, said: "This study provides the most compelling evidence to date of a causative link between Zika and Guillain-Barré syndrome.

"The increase in reported cases seems to suggest that a similar situation may be occurring in the current outbreak, although the link here is yet to be proven definitively.

"The scale of the crisis unfolding in Latin America has taken us all by surprise, and we should be prepared for further unforeseen complications of Zika virus infection to emerge in the coming weeks and months."

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Puerto Rico braced for more Zika cases

By Tulip Mazumdar
Global health reporter, in Atlanta and Puerto Rico

36 minutes ago

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Aedes aegypti mosquitoes being studied in CDC lab in San Juan

Hundreds of thousands of people in the US territory of Puerto Rico could become infected with the Zika virus in the coming months, according to the director of America's Centre for Disease Control.

Dr Tom Frieden says this could lead to "thousands" of brain-damaged babies.

Zika has now been reported in 31 countries and territories in the Americas.

So far, Brazil has been the worst hit.

There have been about 100 cases of Zika reported in mainland US.

These were in travellers who had recently returned from Zika-hit countries.

The Aedes aegypti mosquito that spreads the virus can be found in about a dozen US states, so the mainland is bracing itself for locally transmitted infections very soon.

Southern states such as Florida and Texas are particularly vulnerable.

But Dr Frieden - who is advising the president on this emergency - says Puerto Rico is the biggest concern for the US.

There have been almost 120 cases there so far.

"Close to 90% of adults in Puerto Rico have been infected with dengue [which is transmitted by the same mosquito as Zika]… so we need to do everything possible to reduce the risk to pregnant women there," Dr Frieden says.

Zika is not considered particularly dangerous in most people, but there is a strongly suspected link between the virus and babies being born with under-developed brains.

"This possible or probable association with microcephaly is extraordinarily unusual," says Dr Frieden.

"We're not aware of any previous infection spread by mosquitoes that can cause a potentially devastating foetal malformation."

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Zika in the US


- 93 imported cases, nine of them pregnant women

- one baby born with microcephaly

- about a dozen states at risk of local Zika transmission

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


On the frontline of the US' fight against Zika, CDC scientists in Puerto Rico are urgently trying to find new tools to fight these mosquitoes.

The insects have been on the island for many centuries, spreading dengue and, more recently, chikungunya.

And they have started to become resistant to the main insecticides used to kill them.

Scientists at the CDC's dengue branch in the Puerto Rican capital, San Juan, are urgently trying to establish which insecticides are still effective.

They are breeding the Zika-transmitting mosquitoes in their labs to test.

The eggs hatch and then undergo metamorphosis from pupae into adult flying mosquitoes within just a few days.

The mosquitoes live only for a couple of weeks, but that is more than enough time to spread disease, and anxiety.

Worryingly, it is becoming increasingly difficult to eliminate them.

"These mosquitoes are resistant to one of the most commonly used insecticides." says lead entomologist Dr Roberto Barrera.

"Permethrin has been used in Puerto Rico and the rest of the Americas for many years, but it doesn't work as well any more."

Dr Barrera's team will report back in the next couple of weeks on what other chemicals can be used.

In the meantime, fumigators go through residential areas spraying entire neighbourhoods with the less effective insecticide.

It is the best health authorities here have right now.

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Health officials spray insecticide in a neighbourhood with reported Zika cases

Despite the outbreak, tourism is still strong, with two enormous cruise ships docked in the harbour in old San Juan.

Most people are walking around in shorts and T-shirts, with their arms and legs exposed.

Everyone seems pretty relaxed.

It is only pregnant women who are being advised against travel to Zika-hit areas.

A causative link between Zika and microcephaly has yet to be confirmed.

But until more is known, health officials have to assume there is one.

"There is a lot we don't know," Dr Frieden says.
"If an infant is born to a woman who had Zika, and does not have microcephaly, do they have other problems?

"It may not become apparent for months or years to come."

Posted Image
Joan Ballista is 28 weeks pregnant. She is extremely anxious about Zika affecting her baby

That uncertainty is constantly on the mind of Joan Ballista, 28.

She is 24 weeks pregnant, and terrified she could become infected - most people who contract the disease do not even know they have it.

She has dropped into a Ministry of Health Women, Infants and Children clinic set up in the city's main shopping centre to give advice to expectant mothers.

"I am very worried" she says.

"I use repellent every day. I put it on when I wake up, when I go to bed. I really worry. Microcephaly is such a sad disease."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Advice to travellers

- Reconsider travel to Zika-hit countries if you are pregnant

- All travellers should avoid getting bitten

- Wear long sleeves and trousers

- Wear insect repellent

- Stay in places with air conditioning or that use window and door screens to keep mosquitoes outside

Source: US CDC

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


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Zika caught 'killing' brain cells

By James Gallagher
Health editor, BBC News website

2 hours ago

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Zika virus kills the type of tissue found in the developing brain, researchers have shown.

It was able to destroy or disrupt the growth of neural progenitor cells, which build the brain and nervous system, in lab tests.

The discovery, published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, adds weight to claims that Zika is causing brain abnormalities in babies.

However, the US researchers caution this is not yet the conclusive link.

There have been more than 4,800 confirmed and suspected cases of babies born with small brains - microcephaly - in Brazil.

It is widely thought that the Zika outbreak is to blame, but this has not been scientifically confirmed.

The team from the Johns Hopkins, Florida State and Emory universities infected a range of tissue samples with Zika virus for two hours and then analysed the samples three days later.

The virus was able to infect up to 90% of neural progenitor cells in a sample leading to nearly a third of cells dying and the growth of the rest being disrupted.

A similar effect in a developing brain could have devastating results.

Posted Image
One of the first images of the Zika virus taken from a patient in the outbreak in South America

The virus was able to infect only 10% of other tissue types tested including more advanced brain cells, kidney cells and embryonic stem cells.

Prof Guo-li Ming, one of the researchers, said the findings were significant and represented a first step to understanding the link between microcephaly and Zika.

She told the BBC News website: "Neural progenitor cells are especially vulnerable to the Zika virus.

"They are giving rise to the cortex - the primary part [of the brain] that shows reduced volume in microcephaly.

"But this research does not provide the direct evidence that Zika virus is the cause for microcephaly."

She said studies looking at brain organoids or animal studies were still needed.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Analysis

David Shukman, Science editor, BBC News

In the overcrowded hospitals of Recife, the teeming Brazilian city at the epicentre of the crisis, medics have long assumed that the Zika virus is to blame.

In a sweltering waiting room last month, where anxious mothers were clutching babies with abnormally small heads, Dr Angela Rocha told me that she was convinced of the link.

In a normal year, she said, she might see five suspected cases of microcephaly while in the previous few months she had seen more than 200.

When I asked whether it would be wise to wait for a full scientific analysis with peer-reviewed conclusions, she looked at me with scorn.

With so many cases, and more in prospect after the next rainy season, we do not have time to wait, she said.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


It is unclear why these cells should be so vulnerable, but it appears they do not mount an immune response to Zika infection.

While not definitive, the study adds to mounting evidence including Zika being discovered in the brains of dead babies as well as in amniotic fluid.

Brain development researcher Dr Madeline Lancaster, from the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, said the study was a "significant step forward".

She told the BBC News website: "The effect they see could well explain the surge in microcephaly and it opens the door for many further studies into how the virus is affecting stem cells and whether this affects their ability to generate neurons in the developing brain.

"I think it's a very important contribution and is extremely timely."

But she agreed with the researchers that more research was needed to "test whether Zika does indeed affect neuron generation and brain size" as well as how it crosses the placenta.

Dr Bruce Aylward, from the World Health Organization, said the evidence was mounting that Zika was causing microcephaly and another condition - Guillain-Barre syndrome.

He said: "Since the public health emergency of international concern was declared back in February, the evidence that there may be a causal relationship has continued to accumulate."

Meanwhile a study in Rio de Janeiro has added extra evidence to the microcephaly link.

It looked at pregnant women coming to hospital with a rash between September 2015 and February 2016.

Out of the 42 testing positive for Zika, ultrasound scans showed 12 had babies with abnormalities.

There were no abnormalities in the babies of the 16 women who did not have Zika.

The study published in the New England Journal of Medicine concluded: "Zika virus infection in pregnancy appears to be associated with grave outcomes."

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05 March 2016

Laos reports local transmission of Zika virus

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© AFP | The That Luang Buddhist stupa in Vientiane, regarded as the most important national monument in Laos and a national symbol

BANGKOK (AFP) - Laos is the latest country to report a local transmission of Zika virus, according to the World Health Organization, as fears mount over the mosquito-borne illness that has been linked to birth defects.

Asia has seen only a sprinkling of cases of the virus, but a surge in Latin America this year has pushed the UN health agency to declare Zika a global health emergency.

Laos joined a total of 41 countries that have reported local transmissions of the virus since the beginning the year, a WHO report said.

Health authorities in Laos, a rural Communist country with minimal infrastructure, were not available to comment.

Neighbouring Thailand reported one case last month of a 22-year-old who contracted the illness domestically and has since recovered.

Thailand's health ministry urged the public not to panic, saying there have been an average of five cases per year since 2012 with no outbreaks.

The sickness is carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which also spreads dengue fever.

It breeds in tropical areas, including Southeast Asia, which has seen a spike in cases of dengue in recent months and most often causes mild, flu-like symptoms.

A growing body of evidence suggests Zika can also trigger microcephaly, a severe deformation of the brain among newborns, in babies born to mothers infected while pregnant.

Brazil was first to sound the alarm on the apparent link with birth defects.

It has since become the hardest hit country, with an estimated 1.5 million cases of active Zika transmission and 641 confirmed cases of microcephaly.

On Friday scientists in the United States said they found the first concrete evidence of a link between the virus and the birth defect, which has so far been circumstantial.

The findings may help to identify drugs to prevent or cure the Zika virus, which currently lacks a vaccine or specific treatment.

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Zika virus: Sexual transmission 'more common than thought'

2 hours ago

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Zika is most commonly spread by mosquitoes, but several countries have now reported cases of sexual transmission

Sexual transmission of the Zika virus is more common than previously thought, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

After an emergency committee meeting on Tuesday, the UN health agency also said there was increasing evidence of links between Zika and various birth defects.

Zika is most commonly spread by mosquitoes but several countries have reported cases of sexual transmission.

The WHO last month said the outbreak constitutes a global emergency.

WHO Director General Dr Margaret Chan said "reports and investigations in several countries strongly suggest that sexual transmission of the virus is more common than previously assumed".

She called the development "alarming".

Dr Chan also said that microcephaly - a birth defect strongly linked to the Zika outbreak in Brazil - was just one of several conditions that the WHO had linked to the virus.

Another is Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS). Nine countries have now reported an increase in cases of GBS, a rare condition that can cause temporary paralysis and death.

Dr Chan said problems linked to Zika were now being seen not just in women of child-bearing age, but children, teenagers and older adults.

She said public health officials should not wait for definitive scientific proof of links between the virus and various health conditions before issuing guidance.

The WHO has advised pregnant women to avoid travelling to areas with ongoing Zika outbreaks, and to practice safe sex with anyone who has or abstain from sex for the duration of their pregnancy.

"Women who are pregnant in affected countries or travel to these countries are understandably deeply worried," Dr Chan said.

The US is investigating more than a dozen possible cases of Zika in people who may have been infected through sex.

A vaccine for the Zika virus could be ready for human trials later this year, Dr Anthony Fauci, who is leading the US government's research programme, said last week.

Dr Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he hopes to start testing a DNA vaccine by September.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Zika symptoms may include:

- fever

- joint pain

- rash

- conjunctivitis/red eyes

- headache

- muscle pain

- eye pain

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


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10 March 2016

Zika virus implicated in brain infection in adults: French study

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© AFP/File | The mosquito-borne Zika virus usually causes mild symptoms in adults, with a low fever, headaches and joint pain

PARIS (FRANCE) (AFP) - The Zika virus, already linked to brain damage in babies, can also cause a serious brain infection in adult victims, French researchers warned Thursday.

Zika virus was found in the spinal fluid of an 81-year-old man who was admitted in January to a hospital near Paris shortly after returning from a month-long cruise.

The man -- semi-comatose, with a high fever and partial paralysis -- was diagnosed with meningoencephalitis, an inflammation of the brain and its membrane, the team wrote in New England Journal of Medicine.

"It is the first case of its kind to be reported, to our knowledge," Guillaume Carteaux, co-author of the paper and specialist at the hospital which treated him, told AFP.

The mere presence of virus does not prove it is what caused the disease.

The patient, who was reported to have been in good health during his cruise around New Caledonia, Vanuato, the Solomon Islands and New Zealand, has since partially recovered.

"Clinicians should be aware that (Zika virus) may be associated with meningoencephalitis," the team wrote.

No other viruses or other infectious agents were found in the man's system, they added.

On Wednesday, a different French team linked the virus sweeping Latin America and the Caribbean to paralysis-causing myelitis.

They reported that a 15-year-old girl diagnosed on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe with acute myelitis in January had high levels of Zika in her cerebrospinal fluid, blood and urine.

Myelitis is an inflammation of the spinal cord.

It can affect limb movement and cause paralysis by interrupting communication between the spinal cord and the rest of the body.

- Spreading alarm -

The mosquito-borne Zika virus usually causes mild symptoms in adults, with a low fever, headaches and joint pain.

Its quick spread has caused alarm due to an observed association with microcephaly, which deforms the brains of unborn babies, and Guillain-Barre, a rare condition in which the body's immune system attacks a part of the nervous system that controls muscle strength.

Brazil has been hardest hit by the Zika outbreak, with some 1.5 million people infected and 641 confirmed cases of microcephaly in children born to women infected with the virus while pregnant.

According to the World Health Organisation, 41 countries or territories have reported transmission of Zika within their borders since last year, and eight have reported an increase in Guillain-Barre cases.

A rise in microcephaly and other baby malformations has so far "only been reported in Brazil and French Polynesia", according to the WHO.

There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika.

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Zika: Panama has 'first microcephaly case outside Brazil'

19 March 2016

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Health experts strongly suspect a link between the virus and microcephaly

Panama has registered a baby born with a brain disorder believed linked to the Zika virus, in what is thought to be the first such case outside Brazil in the current outbreak.

Traces of the mosquito-born virus were found in the baby's umbilical cord.

The baby had been born with an underdeveloped brain, a condition known as microcephaly, which health experts suspect is linked to the virus.

Brazil suspects most of its 860 cases of microcephaly are related to Zika.

The Panamanian baby's mother had not reported any symptoms of Zika during her pregnancy.

Her baby died four hours after being born.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a global public health emergency over the possible connection between the mosquito-born virus and microcephaly.

The current Zika outbreak began almost a year ago in Brazil.

Microcephaly cases have been centred in north-east Brazil, but the outbreak has affected people in more than 20 countries in the Americas.

Some governments have advised women to delay getting pregnant, but before now no infants with microcephaly have tested positive for Zika outside Brazil in the current outbreak.

Some cases of the brain condition were reported in an outbreak in French Polynesia in 2013.

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South Korea confirms first Zika case

22 March 2016

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The Zika virus is carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito

South Korea has confirmed its first case of the Zika virus, in a man who had recently returned from Brazil.

The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention said the 43-year-old was diagnosed on Tuesday and was being treated in Gwangju city.

Zika, a mosquito-borne virus, has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization.

It has spread rapidly in Brazil and the Americas, and is suspected of causing birth defects.

But WHO experts caution the link between the virus and microcephaly - in which babies are born with underdeveloped heads - is not yet proven.

Isolated Zika infections have been reported in a handful of countries in Asia.

South Korea said the infected man had been quarantined and his movements tracked since returning home, according to the Yonhap news agency.

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24 March 2016

Florida braces for Zika virus, officials say

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© AFP/File | Mosquito-transmitted Zika infection has been linked to increased rates of microcephaly in babies born to infected mothers

MIAMI (AFP) - Florida, with its wet, mostly subtropical climate, should be fertile ground for the Zika virus, but is ready to fight hard to fend it off, officials said Wednesday.

So far, the southeastern US state has recorded 72 Zika cases, all in people who had traveled to countries where the virus is more widespread, particularly in Latin America, said Anna Marie Likos, an epidemiologist at the state health department, at a University of Miami seminar on the illness.

Mosquito-transmitted Zika infection has been linked to increased rates of microcephaly in babies born to infected mothers.

The birth defect causes babies to have abnormally small heads, which can cause brain damage.

Zika has also been linked to Guillain-Barre, a rare condition that causes the body's immune system to attack a part of the nervous system that controls muscle strength.

Florida, particularly the Miami airport, is a major crossroads for tourists from Latin America and the Caribbean.

The hot, wet conditions facilitate mosquito breeding.

The Aedes aegypti mosquito behind Zika's quickening spread also transmits dengue and chikungunya.

But the authorities in Florida have been able to fend off both viruses, Likos said.

Even though Zika is cause for concern and action, "there's no need to panic," said Lillian Rivera, director of the Miami-Dade County health department.

"We will deal with this because we have great scientists and we have great resources that can get us through this whole situation of Zika," she added.

Governor Rick Scott declared a state heath emergency in February to put the state on a disease-fighting footing.

Brazil has been hardest hit by the Zika outbreak, with some 1.5 million people infected.

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Zika 'World Cup theory' dismissed

By James Gallagher
Health editor, BBC News website

8 hours ago

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The Zika virus arrived in South America a year before the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, say British and Brazilian scientists.

Their study effectively dismisses one of the most popular theories about the outbreak's origins - that it was brought over by football fans.

The findings, published in the journal Science, suggest the virus arrived between May and December 2013.

That is long before any cases were first detected in 2015.

The other popular idea - that it was brought over during the World Sprint Championship canoe race in 2014 - has also been dismissed.

Case zero

Tracing the origins of a virus takes a feat of genetic genealogy.

The researchers analysed the genetic code of seven Zika samples from across Brazil.

First, they discovered all of the viruses were closely related, suggesting the infection was brought to Brazil by just one person.

The virus has since spread to 34 countries or territories.

But Zika is still a virus that mutates rapidly.

The small differences between each sample allowed the scientists to construct Zika's family tree and estimate when their common ancestor arrived in Brazil.

They conclude that the virus was brought over in mid-to-late 2013.

Prof Oliver Pybus, from the University of Oxford, told the BBC News website: "We can't be sure exactly how the virus got into the Americas, but it certainly seems that the virus was already in the continent before the start of the World Cup in 2014.

"We also looked at the numbers of passengers embarking from countries that have recorded Zika transmission in the last few years and who disembarked in Brazil and we found a 50% rise in the number of passengers along those routes. That could be a reason why it appeared when it did."

The virus spreading in the Americas is closely related to the one detected in an outbreak in French Polynesia in 2013.

While this is a possible source of the latest outbreak, the researchers say a lack of samples from other countries - particularly in south East Asia - mean they cannot be sure.

Microcephaly

One of the most disturbing aspects of the outbreak has been the strongly suspected link with a surge in cases of microcephaly - babies being born with small brains.

Dr Nuno Faria, a fellow researchers at the Evandro Chagas Institute, said their data was "consistent" with suggestions that Zika could be causing brain defects.

But he cautioned there was still more research to be done to confirm the link and "we will have a much better picture of the virus later this year".

Their analysis did not discover any major mutations in the virus that could make it more dangerous to developing brains.

The scientists suggest co-infection with other diseases such as Chikungunya, previous infections with Dengue or a lack of immunity could explain the spike in birth defects.

Commenting on the findings, Prof Martin Hibberd from the London School Of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: "The introduction of one Zika virus leading to a widespread outbreak may seem surprising.

"However the modelling of other Zika outbreaks, and also the highly-related Dengue outbreaks, suggests that this is not unusual.

"In the right conditions, with sufficient mosquitoes and closely packed humans, the virus can spread rapidly."

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26 March 2016

Chile reports first case of sexually transmitted Zika

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© AFP/File | A statement from the Health Ministry states that there is no Aedes Aegypti mosquito presence in Chile

SANTIAGO (AFP) - Authorities Saturday reported the first sexually transmitted case of Zika in mainland Chile, where there is no known presence of the mosquito generally blamed for passing on the virus suspected of causing birth defects.

The Health Ministry said a 46-year-old woman contracted the virus from a man who had become infected in Haiti.

"This is the first documented case of Zika virus through sexual transmission in mainland Chile, where there is no presence of the Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits the disease," the ministry said in a statement.

"To date, we have confirmed 10 cases of Zika contracted abroad and reported in the country, including eight in 2016."

In early March, Chile reported the first imported case of Zika in a pregnant woman whose son was born healthy.

While not present in mainland Chile, the Aedes aegypti mosquito has been detected on remote Easter Island in the Pacific.

Zika, which has been spreading through Latin America, has been linked to microcephaly in babies born to mothers infected while pregnant.

Microcephaly is a serious birth defect that leaves babies with small heads and incomplete brain development.

The World Health Organization has declared an international health emergency over the apparent link.

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29 March 2016

Many in US unaware of key facts on Zika virus: study

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© AFP | The Zika virus

MIAMI (AFP) - Many Americans are unclear on key facts about the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which has been linked to birth defects and is of particular concern to pregnant women, US researchers said Tuesday.

The findings were contained in a nationally representative poll of 1,275 adults conducted by the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health in early March.

The survey included 105 households in which a woman was pregnant or was considering becoming pregnant in the next year.

In those households, nearly one in four (23 percent) were not aware of the association between Zika virus and the birth defect, microcephaly, in which infants are born with unusually small heads.

Thousands of children in Brazil have been born with the condition, sparking alarm about a virus that today remains poorly understood by global scientists.

One in five of these households said they believed a vaccine exists to prevent Zika, even though one does not and experts say such a vaccine will take years to develop.

More than four in 10 (42 percent) did not realize Zika virus can be sexually transmitted.

Furthermore, one quarter mistakenly believed symptoms were likely to be apparent, when in fact most of those who are infected show no signs of illness.

Symptoms of Zika can include fever, rash, joint pain, pain behind the eyes and the eye infection conjunctivitis, sometimes known as pink-eye.

Among the general public, misconceptions about Zika were also common, the poll found.

Four in 10 said they thought Zika could be a danger to future pregnancies, while the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Zika is believed to be a threat only to current pregnancies.

Significant misunderstandings about how Zika is transmitted were also found.

One in five (22 percent) did not know Zika could spread from a pregnant mother to her fetus, and more than a quarter (29 percent) were unaware it can be transmitted through blood transfusions.

A full 40 percent did not know it could be transmitted sexually.

Nealy one-third (31 percent) thought, incorrectly, that Zika could be spread by coughing and sneezing.

Nearly three-quarters of those polled (71 percent) were unaware of a link between Zika virus and Guillain-Barre syndrome, which can cause paralysis.

"These misperceptions about Zika virus transmission could lead people to take unnecessary or inappropriate precautions, as we have seen in other kinds of outbreaks," said Gillian SteelFisher, director of the poll and research scientist at Harvard.

"We have a key window before the mosquito season gears up in communities within the United States mainland to correct misperceptions about Zika virus so that pregnant women and their partners may take appropriate measures to protect their families."

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31 March 2016

First 3-D image of Zika virus could speed vaccine hunt: study

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© Purdue University/ Kuhn and Rossmann research groups/AFP | This image obtained March 31, 2016 courtesy of Purdue University/ Kuhn and Rossmann research groups shows a representation of a near-atomic level map of Zika virus

MIAMI (AFP) - US researchers announced Thursday the first three-dimensional map of Zika, an advance that some hope will speed efforts to develop a vaccine against the mosquito-borne virus which has been linked to birth defects.

The findings in the journal Science describe a virus that is in many ways similar to other in its family of flaviviruses -- including dengue, West Nile, yellow fever, and Japanese encephalitis -- but also contains some key structural differences.

Namely, a protruding structure on the shell of the virus, known as a glycosylation site, contains some unique characteristics that may be where Zika sets itself apart from others.

"The virus is like a menacing stranger luring an unsuspecting victim with the offer of sweet candy," said a statement from Purdue University, where the research was carried out.

"The human cell gladly reaches out for the treat and then is caught by the virus, which, once attached, may initiate infection of that cell."

All known flavivirus structures differ in the amino acids that surround a glycosylation site in the virus's shell, and Zika's particular characteristics may be what allows it to attach to certain molecules and infect certain human cells.

"If this site functions as it does in dengue and is involved in attachment to human cells, it could be a good spot to target an antiviral compound," said Michael Rossmann, professor of biological sciences at Purdue.

"If this is the case, perhaps an inhibitor could be designed to block this function and keep the virus from attaching to and infecting human cells."

- Invading nervous system? -

Unlike related flaviviruses, Zika appears to infect the brain of the developing fetus, and scientific evidence to date has strongly suggested a link between Zika infection and the birth defect microcephaly, in which infants are born with unusually small heads.

"Most viruses don't invade the nervous system or the developing fetus due to blood-brain and placental barriers, but the association with improper brain development in fetuses suggest Zika does," said Purdue University researcher Devika Sirohi.

"It is not clear how Zika gains access to these cells and infects them, but these areas of structural difference may be involved," he added.

"These unique areas may be crucial and warrant further investigation."

The model was based on a strain of Zika virus isolated from a patient infected during the French Polynesia epidemic in 2013-2014.

US government scientists have said it will likely take years to make a vaccine against Zika virus, which currently has no treatment or cure.

"The structure of the virus provides a map that shows potential regions of the virus that could be targeted by a therapeutic treatment, used to create an effective vaccine or to improve our ability to diagnose and distinguish Zika infection from that of other related viruses," said lead researcher Richard Kuhn, director of the Purdue Institute for Inflammation, Immunology and Infectious Diseases.

"Determining the structure greatly advances our understanding of Zika -- a virus about which little is known. It illuminates the most promising areas for further testing and research to combat infection."

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