Zika virus outbreak in the Americas (2015–present)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Zika virus outbreak in South America (2015–present))
Situation map of the outbreak as of January 2016
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date |
April 2015 –present
b There are 3174 cases and 38 deaths from microcephaly.[20] |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
In January 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that the virus was likely to spread throughout the majority of the Americas by the end of the year.[21] The virus is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is commonly found throughout the Americas.
In around one in five cases, infection with Zika virus results in a minor illness known as Zika fever, which causes symptoms such as fever and a rash. However, Zika virus infection in pregnant women has been linked with thousands of cases of newborn microcephaly by mother-to-child transmission.
A number of countries have issued travel warnings, and the virus has been detected in cases in the U.S.[22], Denmark, [23] as well as 6 in Portugal.[24]
Contents
Epidemiology
In May 2015, Zika virus was first confirmed as the cause of an outbreak of a dengue-like disease in northern and eastern Brazil.[25] In the district of Camaçari and the neighboring city Salvador, capital of the state of Bahia, a previously unknown disease affecting patients with flu-like symptoms followed by rash and arthralgia, was shown to be caused by Zika virus by researchers from the Federal University of Bahia using the RT-PCR technique.[26] The spread followed a pattern similar to an outbreak of Chikungunya virus in the same region, another disease previously unknown to the local population. The virus reached Colombia in October[27] and other countries in Latin America including the Caribbean in November and December.[28] Confirmed cases have now been reported in most of South and Central America, and the Caribbean.[29]Cases have also been reported that were imported from South America into Europe and the United States. One case was a traveler who returned in March 2015 to Italy from Brazil.[30] A few cases of imported Zika virus infection have been reported in the United States[31] and Australia.[32] Three cases have been reported in the United Kingdom[33] and three in Canada.[34]
Symptoms
Main articles: Zika virus and Zika fever
Zika virus (ZIKV) is a vector-borne flavivirus in the same family as yellow fever, dengue, West Nile, and Japanese encephalitis viruses.[35]Besides Zika, a high incidence of the autoimmune disease Guillain–Barré syndrome was noted in French Polynesia and later in Brazil.[36]
Link to infant microcephaly
Main article: Microcephaly
Zika virus was first linked with newborn microcephaly
during the Brazil Zika virus outbreak. In 2015, there were 2,782 cases
of microcephaly compared with 147 in 2014 and 167 in 2013.[37]In November 2015, Zika virus was isolated in a newborn from the northeastern state of Ceará, Brazil, with microcephaly and other congenital issues. The Lancet medical journal reported in January 2016 that the Brazilian Ministry of Health had confirmed 134 cases of microcephaly "believed to be associated with Zika virus infection" with an additional 2,165 cases in 549 counties in 20 states remaining under investigation.[38]
In January 2016, a baby in Oahu was born with microcephaly, the first case in the United States of brain damage linked to the virus. The baby and mother tested positive for a past Zika virus infection. The mother, who had probably acquired the virus while traveling in Brazil in May 2015 during the early stages of her pregnancy, had reported her bout of Zika. She recovered before relocating to Hawaii. Although her pregnancy had progressed normally, the baby's condition was not known until birth.[39]
Containment and control
Americas
Countries that have past or current evidence of Zika virus transmission (as of 15 January 2016)[40]
Because of the "growing evidence of a link between Zika and microcephaly" the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a travel alert on January 15, 2016 advising pregnant women to consider postponing travel to Brazil as well as the following countries and territories where Zika fever had been reported: Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.[45] On January 22, 2016, eight more countries were added to the list: Barbados, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin, Guyana, Cape Verde, and Samoa.[46] The agency issued additional guidelines and suggested that women thinking about becoming pregnant consult with their physicians before traveling.[47]
The Ministry of Health of Chile published a health notice.[48]
International
Governments or health agencies such as those of Britain,[49] Ireland,[42] New Zealand,[50] Canada,[43] and the European Union,[43] issued similar travel warnings.Responses
Author and environmentalist Bill McKibben compared the virus outbreak to a dystopian climate future, when the range of viruses expands with climate warming.[51] A 2014 computer model of the Zika vector—the Aedes mosquito—predicts a more complicated change: "However, even if much of the tropics and subtropics will continue to be suitable, the climatically favourable areas for A. aegypti globally are projected to contract under the future scenarios produced by these models, while currently unfavourable areas, such as inland Australia, the Arabian Peninsula, southern Iran and some parts of North America may become climatically favourable for this mosquito species." [52]References
External links
- Flaviviridae Genomes database search results from the Viral Bioinformatics Resource Center
- Viralzone: Flaviviridae
- Virus Pathogen Database and Analysis Resource (ViPR): Flaviviridae
|
||
|pages= and |pp= specified (help); More than one of |pages= and |pp= specified (help)The Rio de Janeiro authorities have announced plans to prevent the spread of the Zika virus during the Olympic Games later this year. ... The US, Canada and EU health agencies have issued warnings saying pregnant women should avoid travelling to Brazil and other countries in the Americas which have registered cases of Zika.
|title= (help)|title= (help)The New Zealand Government has followed Britain's lead. Official advice recommends any women who are pregnant or plan to conceive in the near future to delay travel to countries affected with the Zika virus.
No comments:
Post a Comment