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WHO declares Zika virus global health emergency

Tuesday, 02 February 2016 12:41 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 02 February 2016 1:34 AM ]

A baby in Brazil born with microcephaly (Getty Images)

Microcephaly is a condition in which babies are born abnormally with small heads and underdeveloped brains. Since October when the neurodevelopmental disorder gained traction in Brazil with over 4,000 reported cases, researchers have established links to the mosquito-borne Zika virus.

According to experts, with the pace at which the virus is spreading, especially in the Americas, more cases of Zika-linked birth defects will soon surface in other countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the virus an international public health emergency on Monday following recommendations from UN experts and criticism over the lack of response to the virus.

"Members of the committee agreed that the situation meets the conditions for a public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted this advice," said WHO Director General Margaret Chan after a meeting of the WHO’s international health regulations emergency committee in Geneva.

The declaration, which puts Zika’s alert level on that of the Ebola virus, will fast-track funding for research aimed at dealing with the infection and creating a vaccine.

Over the past two years Ebola has claimed the lives of over 10,000 people in West Africa. The WHO has suffered widespread criticism for its slow reaction to the epidemic.

“It is important to realize that when the evidence first becomes available of such a serious condition like microcephaly and other congenital abnormalities, we need to take action, including precautionary measures,” the WHO official added.

“There is an urgent need to do more work to find out where there is a definitive association with the Zika virus,” said Chan, adding that “evidence is growing and it is getting stronger. We need a coordinated international response to get to the bottom of this.”

*Health workers are fumigating areas considered at risk of the Zika virus in Recife, Brazil.*

Situation 'far worse than imagined'

On Monday, Brazilian Health Minister Marcelo Castro announced that his country’s local governments would commence mandatory reporting of cases of the virus.

“Eighty percent of the people infected by Zika do not develop significant symptoms. A large number of people have the virus with no symptoms, so the situation is more serious that we can imagine,” said Castro.

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