By Kylie Bull and Amanda Vicinanzo
HSToday
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued an alert recommending enhanced precautions or postponed travel for people intending to travel to regions and certain countries where Zika virus transmission is ongoing.
The Zika virus is spread to people through mosquito bites. The most common symptoms of Zika virus disease are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis. The illness is usually mild, with symptoms lasting from several days to a week. Severe disease requiring hospitalization is uncommon.
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However, in May 2015, the Pan American Health Organization issued an alert regarding the first confirmed Zika virus infection in Brazil. The outbreak in Brazil led to reports of pregnant women giving birth to babies with birth defects and poor pregnancy outcomes. This development, along with the absence of a vaccine, makes Zika a serious international health concern.
With the Olympic and Paralympic Games heading to Rio de Janeiro this summer, a leading scientist has warned pregnant women to carefully consider travel to the event. Laura Rodrigues, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, says Zika is probably responsible for the congenital birth defect epidemic known as microcephaly, when the brain of the fetus fails to grow normally.
With no vaccine or treatment, the only way to fight Zika is to clear stagnant water where mosquitoes breed, and to protect against mosquito bites by wearing long sleeves and trousers and by using insect repellent and mosquito nets. There have also been calls for some of the affected countries to delay pregnancy until more is known about the virus and its links to birth defects.
Brazilian authorities have announced plans to prevent the spread of the Zika virus during the Games. Inspections of Olympic facilities will begin four months before the event to get rid of mosquito breeding grounds. Daily sweeps will also take place during the Games. Fumigation would be an option only on a case-by-case basis because of concerns for the health of the athletes and visitors.
The following destinations are subject to the CDC travel alert, as of January 22: the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a US territory; Brazil; Colombia; El Salvador; French Guiana; Guatemala; Haiti; Honduras; Martinique; Mexico; Panama; Paraguay; Suriname; and Venezuela, Barbados, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin, Guyana, Cape Verde, and Samoa.
Specific areas where Zika virus transmission is ongoing are often difficult to determine and are likely to continue to change over time; consequently, travelers should monitor the CDC travel alerts frequently.
“Most [affected countries] are reporting sporadic cases but we have larger outbreaks in Brazil, in Colombia, in El Salvador, in Panama and in Cape Verde,” WHO Spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said.
“Microcephaly cases which have occurred now recently in Brazil stand at 3,893 reported suspected cases, with 49 deaths in 20 states of Brazil, and we have that one case reported out of Hawaii, an earlier traveler to Brazil,” he added, noting that the link between Zika and microcephaly is still being investigated.
According to WHO, teams are working with Brazil and other countries, including French Polynesia, where a larger outbreak of Zika virus hit in 2013 and 2014, attacking the nervous system of several patients.
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