The World Health Organization has declared the spread of Zika
virus an international public health emergency and has freed funds to combat
the disease.
“This is an extraordinary event,” said WHO Director General
Margaret Chan at a press conference on Monday. “It poses a public
health threat to other parts of the world and a coordinated international
response is needed.”
Margaret Chan cited the pattern of the disease’s spread, the lack
of a vaccine, and the large global population of mosquitoes that can carry the
virus as factors that contributed to the declaration.
The declaration, only the fourth in WHO’s history, comes just days
after the organization said the number of cases could hit 4 million by the
end of the year. The virus has spread rapidly throughout the Americas infecting
people in more than 20 countries.
Officials in Brazil, the hardest hit country, have estimated 1.5
million infections.
The Zika virus is spread to people through
mosquito bites and causes genetic mutation in babies. The most common symptoms
of Zika virus disease
are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). The illness is
usually mild with symptoms lasting from several days to a week.
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