WHO predicts up to 4 million Zika cases in North & S. America

Published January 29, 2016
San Salvador: A patient suffering from the Guillain-Barre syndrome recovers in the neurology ward of a hospital on Wednesday.—AFP
San Salvador: A patient suffering from the Guillain-Barre syndrome recovers in the neurology ward of a hospital on Wednesday.—AFP

UNITED NATIONS: The World Health Organisation has predicted three to four million people in the Americas (North America and South America) will be affected by the dangerous ‘Zika’ virus.

WHO director general Dr Margaret Chan said on Thursday Zika had gone “from a mild threat to one of alarming proportions”.

She has set up a Zika ‘emergency team’ after the ‘explosive’ spread of the virus. According to one report here the virus has entered the United States.

“The situation today is dramatically different,” Ms Chan said adding that for decades the disease, transmitted by the Aedes genus of mosquito, ‘slumbered’, affecting mainly monkeys and occasionally causing a mild disease of low concern in humans.

“Last year, the virus was detected in the Americas, where it is now spreading explosively. As of today, cases have been reported in 23 countries and territories.

The emergency team will meet on Monday to decide whether Zika should be treated as a global emergency.

The last time an international emergency for the Ebola outbreak was declared in West Africa which has killed more than 11,000 people.

Zika was first detected in Uganda in 1947, but has never caused an outbreak on this scale.

Brazil reported the first cases of Zika in South America in May 2015, a WHO press release said.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2016

Opinion

Editorial

Smog hazard
Updated 05 Nov, 2024

Smog hazard

The catastrophe unfolding in Lahore is a product of authorities’ repeated failure to recognise environmental impact of rapid urbanisation.
Monetary policy
05 Nov, 2024

Monetary policy

IN an aggressive move, the State Bank on Monday reduced its key policy rate by a hefty 250bps to 15pc. This is the...
Cultural power
05 Nov, 2024

Cultural power

AS vital modes of communication, art and culture have the power to overcome social and international barriers....
Disregarding CCI
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Disregarding CCI

The failure to regularly convene CCI meetings means that the process of democratic decision-making is falling apart.
Defeating TB
04 Nov, 2024

Defeating TB

CONSIDERING the fact that Pakistan has the fifth highest burden of tuberculosis in the world as per the World Health...
Ceasefire charade
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Ceasefire charade

The US talks of peace, while simultaneously arming and funding their Israeli allies, are doomed to fail, and are little more than a charade.