By STEPHEN KAPAMBWE –

AS more information filters through about the Zika virus which is blamed for an increasing number of babies born with defects, people in Zambia are getting more concerned at the news that the virus is caused by mosquitoes.

These conce rns come from the fact that Zambia has a long history of mosquitoes which have caused deaths by transmitting malaria, a leading killer disease.

But what is the Zika virus? And should people get concerned, knowing the environment is never short of mosquitoes?

According to news agencies around the world, an emergency meeting of the World Health Organization (WHO) was recently convened to discuss the “explosive” spread of the Zika virus.

The meeting in Geneva was called to decide whether to declare a global emergency.

WHO officials have described Zika as moving “from a mild threat to one of alarming proportions”.

Most cases will have no symptoms but the virus has been linked to brain abnormalities in thousands of babies in Brazil.

Declaring a “public health emergency of international concern” would establish Zika as a serious global threat and lead to money, resources and scientific expertise being thrown at the problem both in South America and in laboratories around the world.

The WHO’s actions are under intense scrutiny after its handling of the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa.

Its efforts to prevent the spread of Ebola were widely criticised.

The WHO was deemed to have been too slow to declare an Ebola emergency.

Professor Peter Piot, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told the BBC that “WHO clearly dropped the ball responding to the Ebola crisis, it took about five months to declare Ebola in

West Africa a public health emergency.”

“By any means this (Zika) is a public health emergency with the sheer numbers of people who are coming down with a flu-like syndrome, but particularly the complications.”

At the WHO meeting, experts in disease control, virology and vaccine development were scheduled to brief WHO Director General Margaret Chan who is reported to have said, “The level of concern is high, as is the level of uncertainty.”

“Questions abound – we need to get some answers quickly. For all these reasons, I have decided to convene an emergency committee.

“I am asking the committee for advice on the appropriate level of international concern and for recommended measures that should be undertaken in affected countries and elsewhere,” Dr Chan said.

Since the mosquito-borne disease was first detected in Brazil in May 2015, the virus has spread to more than 20 countries.

The biggest concern is the surge in levels of microcephaly – babies born with abnormally small heads – and the rare nervous system disorder Guillain-Barre syndrome.

The link between the virus and these disorders has not been confirmed, but Dr Chan said it was “strongly suspected” and was “deeply alarming”.

And she warned the situation could yet deteriorate as “this year’s El Nino weather patterns are expected to increase mosquito populations greatly in many areas”.

TRAVEL ADVICE

The WHO has already predicted that four million people could be infected with Zika in the Americas this year.

It is yet to be announced whether Zika constitutes a global emergency.

The WHO could also make recommendations on travel to the affected countries, tracking the spread of Zika, best practice for treating patients or efforts to fast-track the development of vaccines and cures.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW?

BBC’s James Gallagher recently described the Zika virus as an alarming and disturbing infection that may be linked to thousands of babies being born with underdeveloped

brains.

The BBC has warned that the virus is spreading through the Americas.

Some affected areas have declared a state of emergency while doctors have described it as “a pandemic in progress”. Some of the doctors are even advising women in affected countries to delay getting pregnant.

 

WHERE DID ZIKA COME FROM?

 

According to the BBC, the Zika virus was first identified in monkeys in Uganda in 1947.

The first human case was detected in Nigeria in 1954 and there have been further outbreaks in Africa, South East Asia and the Pacific Islands.

Most of the previous outbreaks were small and Zika has not previously been considered a major threat to human health.

But in May 2015, it was reported in Brazil and has spread rapidly.

It has since also been reported in: Barbados, Bolivia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Saint Martin, Suriname and Venezuela.

“Its current explosive pandemic re-emergence is, therefore, truly remarkable,” the US National Institutes of Health said.

 

HOW DOES IT SPREAD?

 

The Zika virus is spread by Aedes mosquitoes.

Health experts say Aedes are a type of mosquitoes originally found in tropical and subtropical zones, but now found on all continents except Antarctica.

Some species of this mosquito have been spread by human activity.

It is also described as a yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti) which can spread dengue fever, chikungunya, Zika fever and yellow fever viruses, and other diseases.

Aedes mosquitoes are found throughout the Americas except for Canada and Chile where it is too cold for them to survive.

If they drink the blood of an infected person, they can then infect subsequent people they bite.

And, unlike the mosquitoes that spread malaria, Aedes mosquitoes are mostly active during the day, so bed nets offer limited protection.

The WHO expects Zika to spread throughout the Americas, but other scientists have warned that countries in Asia could face large outbreaks too.

 

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS?

 

Deaths are rare and only one in five people infected is thought to develop symptoms.

The symptoms of the Zika virus include mild fever, skin rash

(exanthema), conjunctivitis and headache. These normally last for two to seven days.

A rare nervous system disorder, Guillain-Barre syndrome, that can cause temporary paralysis has been linked to the infection.

There is no vaccine or drug treatment. Patients are advised to rest and drink plenty of fluids.

But the biggest concern is the impact the virus could have on babies developing in the womb and the surge in microcephaly.

 

WHAT IS MICROCEPHALY?

 

Microcephaly is when a baby is born with an abnormally small head, as their brain has not developed properly.

The severity varies, but it can be deadly if the brain is so

underdeveloped that it cannot regulate the functions vital to life.

Children that do survive face intellectual disability and development delays.

It can be caused by infections such as rubella, substance abuse during pregnancy or genetic abnormalities.

Brazil had fewer than 150 cases of microcephaly in the whole of 2014, but there have been more than 3,500 reported cases since October.

The link with Zika has not been confirmed.

But some babies who died had the virus in their brain and it has been detected in placenta and amniotic fluid too.

 

WHAT CAN PEOPLE DO?

 

As there is no treatment, the only option is to reduce the risk of being bitten.

Health officials advise people to use insect repellents, cover up with

long-sleeved clothes and keep windows and doors closed.

The mosquitoes lay their eggs in stagnant water, so people are also being told to empty buckets and flower pots.

The US Center for Diseases Control have advised pregnant women not to travel to affected areas.

 

WHAT IS BEING DONE?

 

According to the BBC, the Brazilian Health Minister, Marcelo Castro, has said a new testing kit is being developed to identify infections quickly.

He also said more money was being put into the development of a vaccine.

Some scientists are also trying to develop and promote the use of genetically modified sterile mosquitoes that appear to reduce mosquito populations by 90 per cent.

Efforts are under way in affected areas to kill the mosquitoes with insecticide.

 

ARE THE OLYMPIC GAMES UNDER THREAT?

 

Rio de Janeiro is the host city for the 2016 Olympic Games from 5th to 21st August, 2015.

The Brazilian authorities will be targeting the mosquitoes’ breeding grounds in the run-up to the Games.

However, government says fumigation will be carried out only on a “case-by-case” basis because of potential health concerns for athletes

and visitors.

There is also some hope there will be fewer mosquitoes in August as the month is both cooler and drier.

 

FIRST CASE IN U.S.A

 

Health officials say a baby born in Hawaii is the first in the US with a birth defect linked to the Zika virus.

A dozen cases have since shown up in the US with all of the patients believed to have been bitten by mosquitoes while abroad.

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci cautions that this is just the beginning of the Zika virus in the Western Hemisphere.

The greatest danger is to pregnant women because the virus is linked to babies being born with underdeveloped brains.

For that reason, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have issued a travel advisory asking expecting women to avoid 14 countries that are seeing high rates of infection.

Dr. Fauci told the BBC that the critical question now is if the virus will spread with new cases in the US.

He urged travellers to avoid mosquitoes while his lab is actively working on a vaccine.

Some researchers are using new genetic technology to try to contain the spread of the Zika virus by mosquitoes.

Brazilian health officials have reported a sharp increase in cases of microcephaly, a rare condition in which an infant’s head is abnormally small.

Experts say they strongly suspect that the Zika virus is to blame and say there have been more than 4,000 suspected cases since the start of 2015.