Thread: Zika virus 'spreading explosively': WHO chief

" The whirlpool spins fastest when the oak tree falls on the truffling pig."

Originally Posted by nidhogg

Jeezus. So many "experts". This board is damn lucky to have so many entomologists and virologists to hand.

I hope you're suitably humbled!!!

Now if you'll excuse me I have some bismuth-coated colloidal silver and Tibetan detox yak-jelly enemas to hawk to those fine intelligent people who aren't fooled by big Pharma (I just hope I can get them to pay up before the TB does for them!)

Zika virus: WHO declares global emergency
By Michelle Roberts
Health editor, BBC News online
9 minutes ago


Zika poses a global public health emergency requiring an urgent, united response, says the World Health Organization.
Experts are worried that the virus is spreading far and fast, with devastating consequences.
The infection has been linked to thousands of babies being born with underdeveloped brains.
The WHO alert puts Zika in the same category of international concern as Ebola.
It means research and aid will be fast-tracked to tackle the infection.
WHO director general, Margaret Chan called Zika an "extraordinary event" that needed a coordinated response.
"I am now declaring that the recent cluster of microcephaly and other neurological abnormalities reported in Latin America following a similar cluster in French Polynesia in 2014 constitutes a public health emergency of international concern."
She said the priorities were to protect pregnant women and their babies from harm and to control the mosquitoes that are spreading the virus.
She advised pregnant women:
to consider delaying travel to areas affected by Zika
seek advice from their physician if they are living in areas affected by Zika, as well as protect themselves against mosquito bites by wearing repellent
Dr Chan justified declaring an emergency even amid uncertainties about the disease, saying now was not the time to wait.
The WHO faced heavy criticism for waiting too long to declare the Ebola outbreak a public emergency.

Currently, there is no vaccine or medication to stop Zika. The only way to avoid catching it is to avoid getting bitten by the Aedes mosquitoes that transmit the infection.
The WHO has already warned that Zika is likely to "spread explosively" across nearly all of the Americas. More than 20 countries, including Brazil, are reporting cases.
Most infections are mild and cause few or no symptoms, although there have been some reported cases of a rare paralysis disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome.
The bigger health threat though is believed to be in pregnancy, to the unborn child.
There have been around 4,000 reported cases of microcephaly - babies born with small brains - in Brazil alone since October.
Dr Jeremy Farrar, Director of the Wellcome Trust, said: "There is a long road ahead. As with Ebola, Zika has once again exposed the world's vulnerability to emerging infectious diseases and the devastation they can unleash. Alongside the emergency response that Zika necessitates, we must put in place the permanent reforms, health systems strengthening and proactive research agenda that are needed to make the global health system more resilient to the threat of future pandemics."

Zika virus: WHO declares global emergency - BBC News

Thailand confirms first domestic case of Zika virus

Bangkok (AFP) - A man has contracted the Zika virus in Thailand, officials said Tuesday, as a global alert intensifies over the mosquito-borne infection blamed for a surge in serious birth defects in South America.

Authorities said the 22-year-old Thai man is likely to have caught the same strain of the virus that has caused panic in countries such as Brazil and Colombia.

The virus "was confirmed by blood tests", Air Vice Marshall Santi Srisermpoke, director of Bangkok's Bhumibol Adulyadej Hospital, told reporters.

"His symptoms were a fever, a rash and redness of the eyes," he said, adding he had not travelled abroad.

The man has recovered and been discharged from hospital, he added, without giving further details of how long he was in hospital, or where he contracted the sickness.

Amnuay Gajeena, director-general of the Disease Control Department of the Public Health Ministry, said it was "likely to be the same strain as the one found in South America".

"It's not a new disease in Thailand... we had the first confirmed case in 2012. Since then we have an average of not more than five cases yearly," he said.

"There is no need to panic... we have never had an epidemic of the Zika virus in Thailand all of the cases were one-offs."

The Aedes aegypti mosquito, which also spreads dengue fever, carries the sickness.

It breeds in tropical areas, including Thailand, which has seen a surge in cases of dengue in recent months.

The World Health Organization linked a spike in birth defects in South America to the virus.

The UN health body said that a rise in cases of microcephaly -- in which babies are born with an abnormally small head -- was likely caused by the mosquito-borne virus, and declared the situation a "public health emergency of international concern".

First detected in Africa in 1947, Zika was considered a relatively mild disease until the current outbreak was declared in Latin America last year.

Brazil was the first country to sound the alarm on the apparent link with birth defects.

It has since become the worst affected country, with some 4,000 suspected cases of microcephaly, of which 270 have been confirmed.

As alarm grows over the surge in the number of cases, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Jamaica and Puerto Rico have warned women to delay conceiving until the Zika outbreak is brought under control.

Thailand confirms first domestic case of Zika virus

If this gets into the country folk oop North it will become an epidemic for sure.

This was foretold in the Mario Brothers prophesy

Originally Posted by DrB0b

Originally Posted by nidhogg

Jeezus. So many "experts". This board is damn lucky to have so many entomologists and virologists to hand.

I hope you're suitably humbled!!!

Oh my, yes.

A rare case of the Zika virus being transmitted through sex, not a mosquito bite, has been reported in the US.

A patient infected in Dallas, Texas, is likely to have been infected by sexual contact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the BBC.

The person had not travelled to infected areas but their partner had returned from Venezuela.

Zika is carried by mosquitoes and has been linked to thousands of babies being born with underdeveloped brains.

It is spreading through the Americas and the World Health Organization has declared the virus a global public health emergency..

This case in Dallas would be the first known infection to take place in the mainland US, though Texas has seen seven other Zika cases all related to foreign travel.

"Now that we know Zika virus can be transmitted through sex, this increases our awareness campaign in educating the public about protecting themselves and others," said Zachary Thompson, director of Dallas County Health and Human Services, in a news release.

"Next to abstinence, condoms are the best prevention method against any sexually-transmitted infections."

The case is "significant" if it was definitely transmitted through sexual contact, Alaka Basu, a senior fellow for public health at the UN Foundation, told the BBC.

"This significance is parallel with the HIV/Aids case. It's worse in some ways, because there are two modes of transmission."

A 2013 CDC study supports the idea that Zika virus can be transmitted sexually.

The CDC's Robert Lanciotti told the BBC it is "too soon" to say whether the diseases was transmitted sexually. It is possible it was spread through saliva.

"To conclude it was sexual transmission is not warranted."

Zika virus infection 'through sex' reported in US - BBC News

Originally Posted by Hans Mann

This case in Dallas would be the first known infection to take place in the mainland US

Simply not true. Poor reporting.

Isaan girls have heads too large for their bodies, this is due to malnutrition in childhood, the head grows but the body stays stunted, even their breasts are flat as a pancake.
Will this virus balance the head into proportion?

Couple o cases in Ireland. need to be careful guys and ladies.

Latest BBC update is that in Texas it was transmitted through sex. Biblical plague

jees is there ever a period when shit isn't happening.

Europe must take action in case mosquitoes are able to survive and spread the virus as temperatures warm up.

The Zika virus could spread in every European country if the Aedes mosquito gets a foothold on the continent, the WHO has warned.

The World Health Organisation's Europe chief said the risk of the virus spreading around Europe would increase in spring and summer as temperatures warm up.

It is most likely to spread beyond Latin America by mosquitos stowed away in baggage, or in the blood of travellers.

The virus - strongly linked to birth defects such as abnormally small heads - has been declared an international health emergency.

The governor of Florida has declared a health emergency in four counties where at least nine cases of the illness have been detected in Florida.

The Aedes mosquito is absent from the vast majority of Europe, but health experts say it could potentially spread across hotter countries.

One island that does have the Aedes aegypti mosquito - responsible for most of the cases in Latin America - is the Portuguese island of Madeira.

It caused a dengue fever epidemic of more than 2,000 cases in 2012.

Another Aedes mosquito - Aedes albopictus - is also established in Italy and areas of southern France and eastern Spain.

"Every European country in which Aedes mosquitoes are present can be at risk for the spread of Zika virus disease," said WHO Europe chief Zsuzsanna Jakab.

"A number of travellers infected with Zika have entered Europe, but the disease has not been transmitted further, as the mosquito is still inactive.

"With the onset of spring and summer, the risk that Zika virus will spread increases."

Authorities have been urged to take measures such as eliminating mosquito breeding sites, such as standing water, and spraying insecticide where necessary.

Blood donors across the UK will also be barred from giving blood for a month if they have been to a country affected by Zika.

The NHS said the "safety of the blood supply is paramount" as it brought in the 28-day ban.

Europe Warned 'Prepare Now' For Zika Virus

Associate Professor Supatra Thongrungkiat, at Mahidol University's Department of Medical Entomology, revealed yesterday that in Thailand only small population of common house mosquitoes could transmit the Zika virus.

"The common house mosquito is a carrier for Dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika virus. In theory, a mosquito can carry only one virus and from our study, it was found that Dengue was the prominent virus carried by mosquitoes in Thailand because there are far more patients infected with Dengue," Supatra said.

"However, more studies are needed to confirm this theory,"

In late January, one case of Zika virus infection was identified at Bhumibol Adulyadej Hospital. The Zika outbreaks in many countries in South America and the Caribbean prompted the World Health Organisation (WHO) to declare a public health emergency on Monday.

According to the WHO, the people infected with Zika usually have a mild fever, skin rash and conjunctivitis. These symptoms were normally mild and last for 2-7 days. However, it has been observed in Brazil that the infection is linked with the babies born with microcephaly, but more researches are needed to confirm this connection.

Dr Yong Puworawan, head of Chulalongkorn University's Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology, revealed that Zika can be transmitted via mosquito bite but also by sexual intercourse and breast feeding.

"The Zika virus is not as severe as Dengue, as the symptoms are milder, but it may cause the baby born by the infected mother to have a smaller head than normal and malfunctioning brain," Yong said.

"It is just like rubella, which is not fatally disease but it can cause disablement in babies,"

Expert: Zika is no big threat in Thailand - The Nation

^as usual simply ridiculous (cough) theory.

WHO sounds Zika blood warning as Europe sees first pregnancy case



Geneva (AFP) - The World Health Organization on Thursday advised countries against accepting blood donations from people who have travelled to regions affected by the Zika virus, as Spain announced Europe's first known case of the disease in a pregnant woman.

With dozens of cases emerging in Europe and North America from travellers returning from affected areas, WHO stressed the potential link between Zika and microcephaly -- which causes children to be born with abnormally small heads -- and urged health authorities to take precautions.

"With the risk of incidence of new infections of Zika virus in many countries, and the potential linkage of the Zika virus infection with microcephaly and other clinical consequence, it is estimated as an appropriate precautionary measures to defer (blood) donors who return from areas with Zika virus outbreak," WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told AFP.

Meanwhile, in the first case of its kind in Europe, Spain's health ministry said a pregnant woman who had returned from Colombia had been diagnosed with the virus.

"One of the patients diagnosed in (the northeastern region of) Catalonia is a pregnant woman, who showed symptoms after having travelled to Colombia," the ministry announced, adding that she was one of seven cases in Spain.

The 41-year-old woman, of Latin American origin who lives in Spain, is 13 or 14 weeks pregnant, regional health official Joan Guix told a news conference.

She will undergo detailed medical tests to see if there is a risk to the fetus. Guix said there was only a small possibility of problems and a scan at 15 weeks would show whether the baby was developing normally.

The mosquito-borne virus has so far spread to 26 countries in South and Central America and the Caribbean and health authorities have warned it could infect up to four million people on the continent and spread worldwide.

The disease starts with a mosquito bite and normally causes little more than a fever and rash.

But since October, Brazil has reported 404 confirmed cases of microcephaly -- up from 147 in 2014 -- plus 3,670 suspected cases.

The timing has fuelled strong suspicions that Zika is causing the birth defect.

The virus has also been linked to a potentially paralysing nerve disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome in some patients.

- 'Imported cases' -

Spain's health ministry sought to ease concerns over the spread of the virus, pointing out that all seven cases in the country had caught the disease abroad.

"Up to now, the diagnosed cases of Zika virus in Spain... don't risk spreading the virus in our country as they are imported cases," it said.

The news comes a day after South American health ministers held an emergency meeting in Uruguay on the disease.

The meeting focused on ways to control the mosquito population spreading the virus, though reports of a US patient catching the disease by having sex fuelled fears that it will not be easy to contain.

WHO earlier this week declared the spike in serious birth defects an international emergency and launched a global Zika response unit.

Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Jamaica and the US territory of Puerto Rico have all warned women not to get pregnant.

The WHO warning on blood donations follows moves by Canada and Britain to protect their blood supplies.

Canadian blood agencies on Wednesday announced that anyone who had travelled to a Zika-risk area would be ineligible to give blood for three weeks upon their return.

The 21-day waiting period also applies to cord blood and stem cell donors who have travelled to Zika-affected areas.

In Britain, the National Health Service Blood and Transplant agency has said that from Thursday, anyone returning from Zika-affected countries would be made to wait 28 days before being allowed to donate blood, as a "precautionary measure".

WHO sounds Zika blood warning as Europe sees first pregnancy case

Originally Posted by Hans Mann

Meanwhile, in the first case of its kind in Europe,

wtf BBC reported a couple in ireland a few days ago...

Colombia blames 3 deaths on Zika, nerve disorder

Bogota (AFP) - Colombia said Friday that three people had died after contracting the Zika virus and developing a rare nerve disorder called Guillain-Barre, the first time health officials have directly blamed the mosquito-borne disease for causing deaths.

"We have confirmed and attributed three deaths to Zika," said Martha Lucia Ospina, head of the National Health Institute.

"In this case, the three deaths were preceded by Guillain-Barre syndrome."

Guillain-Barre is a rare disorder in which the immune system attacks the nervous system.

Cases of the syndrome, which causes weakness and sometimes paralysis, have increased in tandem with the outbreak of the Zika virus currently sweeping Latin America.

The timing has raised health officials' suspicions that the neurological condition is a complication of the mosquito-borne virus.

Zika is also blamed for an increase in the number of babies born with microcephaly, or abnormally small heads and brains.

Most Guillain-Barre patients recover, but the syndrome is sometimes deadly.

Ospina, an epidemiologist, said another six deaths were under investigation for a possible link to Zika.

"Other cases (of deaths linked to Zika) are going to emerge," she said.

"The world is realizing that Zika can be deadly. The mortality rate is not very high, but it can be deadly."

Colombia has been hit hardest by the Zika outbreak of any country except Brazil, with more than 20,000 cases, including more than 2,000 pregnant women.

Zika normally causes mild flu-like symptoms and a rash, or goes unnoticed altogether.

But Colombian Health Minister Alejandro Gaviria said the apparent risk of deadly complications was "worrying."

Colombia blames 3 deaths on Zika, nerve disorder

Once again, the Catholic Church should be really proud of themselves, most of these are South American countries and Catholic with predictable results. Imagine knowing your child is going to have this defect but not being able to abort it or delay pregnancy?

http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsand...cted-countries


First number is % of women using contraceptives, the second is the legality of
abortion

Barbados 56.7% Some restrictions
Bolivia 40.4% Some restrictions
Brazil 75.2% Restrictive
Colombia 71.7% Some restrictions
Costa Rica 75.7% Restrictive
Dominican Republic 68.6% Banned
Ecuador 61.2% Restrictive
El Salvador 64.3% Banned
Guatemala 47.8% Highly restrictive
Guyana 43.5% Least restrictive
Haiti 33.6% Highly restrictive
Honduras 63.7% Highly restrictive
Mexico 67.4% Least restrictive
Nicaragua 75.4% Banned
Panama 57.7% Some restrictions
Paraguay 68.0% Highly restrictive
Suriname 50.8% Highly restrictive
Venezuela 63.8% Highly restrictive

Just be very afraid, that's the message once again.

Sup, didn't ebola work out!

Large-scale trials for Zika vaccines at least 18 months away: WHO

Geneva (AFP) - Large-scale trials for Zika virus vaccines are at least 18 months away, while establishing a possible link between the virus and two more harmful conditions will likely only take weeks, the World Health Organization said Friday.

An estimated 15 companies or groups have begun work on a vaccine for the virus, the spread of which has been declared an international health emergency, WHO's deputy director for health systems and innovation Marie-Paule Kieny told journalists.

There are currently two vaccine candidates which appear most promising, including one product being developed by the US National Institutes of Health and another from India-based Bharat biotech, Kieny said.

"In spite of this encouraging landscape, vaccines are at least 18 months away from large-scale trials," she added.

Meanwhile, Kieny told AFP it would take an estimated four to eight weeks to establish whether Zika causes microcephaly and the severe neurological disorder Guillain-Barre syndrome.

While most people infected with Zika have only mild symptoms, rising global anxiety about the virus is driven by its strongly suspected link to the two more serious conditions.

Microcephaly can cause babies to be born with abnormally small heads and brains, while Guillain-Barre can cause paralysis or even death.

Zika has spread rapidly through Latin America and the Caribbean, with Brazil worst-hit, followed by Colombia.

Large-scale trials for Zika vaccines at least 18 months away: WHO