The World Health Organization (WHO)
today called an emergency meeting for Monday on the “dramatic” rise in Zika
virus infection – strongly suspected of causing birth malformations – warning
that its “explosive” spread could eventually infect up to four million people
before it is brought under control.
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| WHO Director-General Margaret Chan. Photo: World Bank/Steven Shapiro |
“The level of alarm is extremely high,”
WHO Director-General Margaret Chan told her
Executive Board in Geneva, noting 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.
“The situation today is dramatically
different. 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 in the region,” she
added in convening an Emergency Committee under the International Health
Regulations on the epidemic.
The virus, first reported by Brazil in
May, is expected to spread to other parts of the world where dengue,
spread by the same mosquito, is also present, said Marcos Espinal, Director of
the Department of Communicable Diseases and Health Analysis at the Pan American
Health Organization (PAHO), WHO's regional branch.
He told the Board he expects the
outbreak, already linked to some 4,000 births of babies with abnormally small
heads, a condition known as microcephaly, to grow from current estimates of one
million cases to possibly three million to four million before it can be
brought under control.
“We should not panic,” he stressed. “We
should not be afraid, but we need to try and have aggressive vector control in
the affected countries,” he stressed.
Dr. Chan noted that there is a high
level of uncertainty. “Questions abound,” she said. “We need to get some
answers quickly. 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. I will also ask the Committee to
prioritize areas where research is most urgently needed.”
In some places the virus has been
associated with a steep increase in microcephaly and with the sometimes fatal
Guillain-Barre syndrome, but a causal relationship with Zika has not yet been
established although it is strongly suspected, she added.
“The possible links, only recently
suspected, have rapidly changed the risk profile of Zika, from a mild threat to
one of alarming proportions. The increased incidence of microcephaly is
particularly alarming, as it places a heart-breaking burden on families and
communities. WHO is deeply concerned about this rapidly evolving situation.”
She also warned of the potential for
Zika to spread even further internationally given the wide geographical
distribution of the mosquito vector, and cited the lack of population immunity
in newly affected areas and the absence of vaccines, specific treatments, and
rapid diagnostic tests.
Moreover, conditions associated with
this year's El Niño weather pattern, which causes droughts in parts of the
world and floods in others, are expected to increase mosquito populations
greatly in many areas.
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