AMN /
Zika virus, linked to births of babies with smaller than usual brains in Brazil is likely to spread to all countries in the Americas except for Canada and Chile. World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan, told the organisation’s executive board yesterday that she had asked Carissa Etienne, head of the WHO in the Americas, to brief the board later this week on the WHO’s response to the outbreak.
Brazil’s Health Ministry in November confirmed the mosquito-borne Zika virus was linked to a foetal deformation known as microcephaly, in which infants are born with smaller than usual brains. Brazil has reported 3,893 suspected cases of microcephaly, the WHO said last Friday, over 30 times more than had been reported in any year since 2010. WHO advised pregnant women planning to travel to areas where Zika is circulating to consult a healthcare provider before travelling and on return.