Clipping of news on Brazilian Culture, Law and Citizenship
02.02.2016
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) declared on Monday that the Zika virus is a global public health emergency, at the time the disease linked to thousands of cases of microcephaly in Brazil spreads quickly. The Director-General of WHO, Margaret Chan, said a coordinated international response is necessary to improve detection and speed up work in search of a vaccine and better diagnostics, but are not necessary restrictions to travel or trade. The Brazil reported about 4,000 cases of suspected microcephaly, brain malformations in children born with smaller than normal brains, which was connected to Zika virus, although the connection is not yet final. Margaret Chan declared that the causal link was "strongly suspected, but not yet scientifically proven."
The Minister of Health, Marcelo Castro, said the epidemic is worse than previously believed, since in 80% of cases the infected people have no symptoms. As the virus spreads in Brazil, other countries in the Americas also likely to have cases of babies with microcephaly linked to Zika, experts say.
The Pan American Health Organization states that the Zika virus has spread in 24 countries and territories in the Americas.
The designation of WHO was recommended by a committee of independent experts of the United Nations agency (UN), after criticism over a hesitant response so far. The decision should help speed up international and research activities. "The members of the committee agreed that the situation qualifies for a public health emergency of international concern. I accepted this advice," Chan said.
The WHO said last week that the Zika virus, transmitted by the mosquito Aedes aegypti, was "spreading explosively" and can infect up to 4 million people in the Americas and 1.5 million in Brazil. The agency has been criticized for reacting too slowly to Ebola epidemic in West Africa, which killed more than 10,000 people, and promised to improve in future global health crises.
The director of Control and the US Center for Disease Prevention (CDC, its acronym in English), Thomas Frieden, said the statement "calls on the world to act" on the Zika. Derek Gatherer, a professor at Lancaster University, said the WHO's decision is "like a declaration of war, in this case against the Zika virus." The international regulations emergency committee of health WHO brings together experts in epidemiology, public health and infectious diseases in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa.
The Zika virus raised questions around the world about whether pregnant women should avoid infected countries. Chan said delaying travel is something that pregnant women "may consider" adding that if they need to travel, they should take personal protective measures, covering up and using mosquito repellent.
Source: Jornal do Commercio
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This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.