Geneva // The World Health Organisation yesterday declared the Zika virus to be an international public health emergency, as the disease linked to thousands of birth defects in Brazil spreads rapidly.
Margaret Chan, director general of the WHO, called for an international coordinated response to fight the mosquito-borne virus, although she said restrictions on travel or trade were not necessary.
A committee of independent experts to the United Nations agency recommended instituting the emergency designation. It followed criticism of a hesitant response. The move should help to fast-track international action and research priorities.
The WHO said last week that the Zika virus was “spreading explosively” and could infect as many as 4 million people in the Americas.
The agency was criticised for reacting too slowly to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa which killed more than 10,000 people, and has promised to do better in future global health crises.
The WHO’s International Health Regulations emergency committee comprises of experts in epidemiology, public health and infectious diseases from the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa.
Brazil has reported about 4,000 suspected cases of microcephaly, a condition that causes infants to be born with smaller-than-usual brains. Brazil’s health ministry has linked the condition to the Zika virus, although the connection is yet to be definitive.
The virus is also believed to be linked to a neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome.
Marcelo Castro, Brazil’s health minister, said the epidemic was worse than believed because in 80 per cent of the cases the infected people had no symptoms.
As the virus spreads from Brazil, experts believe that cases of babies with Zika-linked birth defects will probably arise in other countries in the Americas.
The Pan American Health Organisation says that the Zika virus has spread in 24 nations and territories in the Americas.
Brazil sounded the alarm last October when a rash of microcephaly cases emerged in the north-east.
It has since become the country worst affected by microcephaly, with 270 confirmed cases, up from 147 in 2014.
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.
Panama yesterday said it had 50 cases of Zika virus infections and warned that the disease would spread across the nation.
Jitters over the virus have spread far beyond the affected areas to Europe and North America, where dozens of cases have been identified among people returning from holiday or business abroad.
There is presently no treatment for the Zika virus and the WHO said it would probably take more than a year to develop a vaccine.
The virus is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which also spreads dengue fever and the chikungunya virus. It produces flu-like symptoms including a low-grade fever, headaches, joint pain and rashes.
The WHO said the most effective form of prevention was getting rid of stagnant water and using protection such as using repellant and mosquito nets.
* Reuters, Agence France-Presse