Zika virus 'spreading explosively': WHO chief
Chan calls for February 1 meeting to determine if the outbreak qualifies as international public health emergency
A researcher looks at Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, capable of spreading the Zika virus, at a lab in the Institute of Biomedical Sciences of the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Jan. 8, 2016. PHOTO: AFP
GENEVA:
The Zika virus, blamed for a surge in birth defects, is "spreading explosively", World Health Organization chief Margaret Chan said Thursday, calling for an emergency meeting on the outbreak on February 1.
"The level of alarm is extremely high," Chan told a meeting of WHO member states in Geneva, calling for a February 1 meeting to determine if the outbreak qualifies as an international public health emergency.
The virus "is now spreading explosively," she added.
Obama urges swift action on Zika virus
Chan said that during previous outbreaks the virus, which was first discovered in a monkey in Uganda in 1947, "occasionally caused a mild disease of low concern."
But "the situation today is dramatically different," she said, highlighting the growing concern that Zika has links to a birth defect known as microcephaly, or an abnormally small head.
Zika virus found in Danish tourist returning from South America
"A causal relationship between Zika virus infection and birth malformations and neurological syndromes has not yet been established, but is strongly suspected," Chan said.
She explained that the February 1 Emergency Committee meeting will seek "advice on the appropriate level of international concern and for recommended measures that should be undertaken in affected countries and elsewhere."
The Zika virus, blamed for a surge in birth defects, is "spreading explosively", World Health Organization chief Margaret Chan said Thursday, calling for an emergency meeting on the outbreak on February 1.
"The level of alarm is extremely high," Chan told a meeting of WHO member states in Geneva, calling for a February 1 meeting to determine if the outbreak qualifies as an international public health emergency.
The virus "is now spreading explosively," she added.
Obama urges swift action on Zika virus
Chan said that during previous outbreaks the virus, which was first discovered in a monkey in Uganda in 1947, "occasionally caused a mild disease of low concern."
But "the situation today is dramatically different," she said, highlighting the growing concern that Zika has links to a birth defect known as microcephaly, or an abnormally small head.
Zika virus found in Danish tourist returning from South America
"A causal relationship between Zika virus infection and birth malformations and neurological syndromes has not yet been established, but is strongly suspected," Chan said.
She explained that the February 1 Emergency Committee meeting will seek "advice on the appropriate level of international concern and for recommended measures that should be undertaken in affected countries and elsewhere."