The Director-General,World Head Organisation (WHO), Margaret Chan, has warned that Countries infected by the mosquito-borne Zika virus should brace up for a worse situation before a likely mitigation later in the year.
She stated this on Thursday in Rio de Janeiro at the end of her two-day visit to Brazil, the country at the epicentre of the Zika crisis.
She said, “Things may get worse before they get better.
“Don’t be surprised to see microcephaly reported in other parts of Brazil.”
Chan said that though Zika virus was more in the north-eastern part of Brazil, the possibility of it spreading to other parts of the country was very high.
She said, what is still very unclear about the virus is whether it actually causes microcephaly, (a condition marked by unusually small heads of the offspring of women affected by the disease that could result in developmental problems).
Chan revealed that scientists were still researching to determine the relationship between the virus and the birth defect.
She said that Brazil had confirmed more than 580 cases of microcephaly, and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers.
“Brazil is investigating more than 4,100 additional suspected cases of microcephaly,’’ she said.
She said that after Brazil, Colombia had been the hardest hit by Zika infections with the country’s health officials reporting a probable case of microcephaly possibly linked to Zika in an aborted fetus.
She pointed that Colombia had reported more than 37,000 cases of Zika including 6,356 in pregnant women, but was yet to have a confirmed microcephaly case linked to the virus.
“At least 34 countries, mostly in the Americas, have active Zika outbreaks and the virus is expected to spread,’’ she said.
Chan said that WHO declared the outbreak an international health emergency on Feb. 1, and cited “strongly suspected” relationship between Zika infection in pregnancy and microcephaly.
She said that scientists were also making further researches to detect a potential link between Zika infection and Guillain-Barre, a rare neurological disorder that could weaken the muscles and cause paralysis.
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