COLUMBIA CONFIRMS 2 MICROCEPHALY CASES LINKED TO ZIKA VIRUS.

Two cases of microcephaly linked to the Zika virus have been confirmed in Colombia, but there has been no explosion of cases of the birth defect, the health ministry said on Thursday. Public health officials have been concerned about the possibility of a surge in the rare birth defect, seen in worrisome numbers in Brazil, as the mosquito-borne virus spreads rapidly in Latin America and the Caribbean. More than 1,100 Zika-related cases of microcephaly have been confirmed in Brazil, but the new figures indicated that its neighbor Colombia is not yet experiencing the same type of increase. There have been 33 microcephaly cases recorded this year in Colombia associated with various causes, the health ministry said in a statement. Eighteen were investigated for a suspected link to Zika, and 16 of those cases were ruled out, it said. Babies with microcephaly are born with unusually small heads that can result in developmental problems. “We have not seen an explosion in cases of microcephaly,” vice health minister Fernando Ruiz said, adding that in typical years Colombia records 11 or 12 cases a month. “We have a number of cases within normal range,” Ruiz added. There eventually could be a total of between 95 and 300 cases of microcephaly in Colombia this year, the ministry said. U.S. health authorities on Wednesday announced their conclusion that infection with the Zika virus during pregnancy causes microcephaly in babies. The World Health Organization has said there is a strong scientific consensus that Zika can cause microcephaly as well as Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that can result in paralysis. Colombia’s national health institute director, Martha Lucia Ospina, said figures previously put forward by the WHO, the U.N. health agency, showing eight babies in the country with Zika-linked microcephaly were incorrect. “There are two confirmed cases in this country,” she said. One of those cases was in central Cundinamarca province. The other was in Norte de Santander, along the Venezuelan border.There were previous reports of Zika-linked microcephaly in Colombia, but until Thursday health officials had said they could not confirm any cases caused by the virus. There have been more than 60,000 reported cases of Zika infections in Colombia, including more than 11,000 in pregnant women, the national health institute said last week.Many Colombian pregnant women infected with Zika are not due to give birth until May or later, but more than 2,700 have already given birth, officials said. Brazil said on Tuesday it had confirmed 1,113 cases of Zika-related microcephaly. Brazil is investigating 3,836 additional suspected cases of microcephaly. Culled from News daily.

ZIKA VIRUS LINKED TO BRAIN DISORDER IN ADULTS.

Zika has already been linked with the autoimmune disorder Guillain-Barre syndrome, which attacks peripheral nerves outside the brain and spinal cord, causing temporary paralysis that can in some cases require patients to rely on respirators for breathing. Scientists in Brazil have uncovered a new brain disorder associated with Zika infections in adults: an autoimmune syndrome called acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, or ADEM, that attacks the brain and spinal cord. The new discovery now shows Zika may provoke an immune attack on the central nervous system as well and this findings add to the growing list of neurological damage associated with Zika. According to the World Health Organization, there is a strong scientific consensus that, in addition to Guillain-Barre, Zika can cause the birth defect microcephaly, though conclusive proof may take months or years. Microcephaly is defined by unusually small heads that can result in developmental problems. In addition to autoimmune disease, some researchers also have reported patients with Zika infections developing encephalitis and myelitis – nerve disorders typically caused by direct infections in nerve cells. Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, or ADEM, typically occurs in the aftermath of an infection, causing intense swelling in the brain and spinal cord that damages myelin, the white protective coating surrounding nerve fibers. It results in weakness, numbness and loss of balance and vision, symptoms similar to multiple sclerosis. The scope of study is small, it may provide evidence that in this case, the virus has different effects on the brain than those identified in current studies,” Dr. Maria Lucia Brito, a neurologist at Restoration Hospital in Recife, Brazil. The study involved 151 patients who visited her hospital between December 2014 and June 2015. All had been infected with arboviruses, the family of viruses that includes Zika, dengue and chikungunya. Six of these patients developed symptoms consistent with autoimmune disorders. Of these six, four had Guillain-Barre and two had ADEM. In both ADEM cases, brain scans showed damage to white matter. ADEM symptoms typically last about six months. All six patients tested positive for Zika, and all had lingering effects after being discharged from the hospital, with five patients reporting motor dysfunction, one with vision problems, and one with cognitive decline. Read more at http://newsdaily.com/2016/04/brazilian-scientists-find-new-zika-linked-brain-disorder-in-adults/#3W9X77ZDhHxA6TKB.99

ZIKA VIRUS AND NERVE CELL INFECTION.

Top Zika investigators now believe that the birth defect microcephaly and the paralyzing Guillain-Barre syndrome may be just the most obvious maladies caused by the mosquito-borne virus. Fueling that suspicion are recent discoveries of serious brain and spinal cord infections – including encephalitis, meningitis and myelitis – in people exposed to Zika. Evidence that Zika’s damage may be more varied and widespread than initially believed adds pressure on affected countries to control mosquitoes and prepare to provide intensive – and, in some cases, lifelong – care to more patients. The newly suspected disorders can cause paralysis and permanent disability – a clinical outlook that adds urgency to vaccine development efforts. Scientists are of two minds about why these new maladies have come into view. The first is that, as the virus is spreading through such large populations, it is revealing aspects of Zika that went unnoticed in earlier outbreaks in remote and sparsely populated areas. The second is that the newly detected disorders are more evidence that the virus has evolved. “What we’re seeing are the consequences of this virus turning from the African strain to a pandemic strain,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. The suspicion that Zika acts directly on nerve cells began with autopsies on aborted and stillborn fetuses showing the virus replicating in brain tissues. In addition to microcephaly, researchers reported finding other abnormalities linked with Zika including fetal deaths, placental insufficiency, fetal growth retardation and injury to the central nervous system. Doctors also are worried that Zika exposure in utero may have hidden effects, such as behavioral problems or learning disabilities, that are not apparent at birth. “If you have a virus that is toxic enough to produce microcephaly in someone, you could be sure that it will produce a whole series of conditions that we haven’t even begun to understand,” said Dr. Alberto de la Vega, an obstetrician at San Juan’s University Hospital in Puerto Rico. A rare and poorly understood condition, Guillain-Barre can weaken muscles and cause temporary paralysis, often requiring patients to need respirators to breathe. Guillain-Barre is an autoimmune disorder, in which the body attacks itself in the aftermath of an infection. The newly discovered brain and spinal cord infections are known to be caused by a different mechanism – a direct attack on nerve cells. That has prompted scientists to consider whether the Zika virus also may infect nerves directly in adults, as they already have suspected in fetuses In medical journals published last month, doctors described neurological syndromes in two patients that they attributed to Zika. Doctors in Paris diagnosed meningoencephalitis, an infection of both the brain and spinal cord, in an 81-year-old man who was hospitalized after being exposed to Zika on a cruise. Another French team reported acute myelitis, a paralyzing infection of the spinal cord, in a 15-year-old girl who had been infected with Zika on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. In its latest surveillance report, the WHO said the two cases “highlight the need to better understand the range of neurological disorders associated with Zika-virus infection.” Other mosquito-borne viruses – including dengue, Japanese encephalitis and West Nile – are known to directly infect nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. But such viruses are seldom associated with Guillain-Barre, and never with microcephaly, said Baylor’s Hotez. Read more at http://newsdaily.com/2016/04/zika-mystery-deepens-with-evidence-of-nerve-cell-infections/#Y57C3WqytSrm3AEj.99

Vietnam reports first Zika infections.

Mosquitoes have infected two women with the Zika virus in Vietnam, health authorities said on Tuesday, in the country’s first cases of a disease linked in Brazil to thousands of suspected cases of microcephaly, a rare birth defect. A 64-year-old woman in the beach city of Nha Trang and a pregnant 33-year-old in Ho Chi Minh City fell sick in late March, and three rounds of tests have confirmed they are Zika-positive, health officials said. The sufferers are in stable condition and no further infections have been found among their relatives and neighbors, the health ministry said in a statement.“After epidemic investigations, we consider the source of infection could be mosquito,” Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said of the patient in Ho Chi Minh City. She is eight weeks pregnant, Long said in a Vietnam Television broadcast, but gave no details of the first woman. Health officials have quarantined the living areas of the patient’s families and taken samples from others living nearby for further tests, said Nguyen Chi Dung, head of Ho Chi Minh City’s department of preventive medicine. The World Health Organization is working closely with Vietnam, a WHO official told a health ministry meeting to announce the infections. Zika is carried by mosquitoes, which transmit the virus to humans. The WHO says there is a strong scientific consensus that Zika can cause microcephaly as well as Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that can result in paralysis, though conclusive proof may take months or years. Microcephaly is characterized by unusually small heads that can result in developmental problems. Zika has been endemic in Asia, with infection cases confirmed in Bangladesh, South Korea, Thailand and China. Brazil said it had confirmed more than 860 cases of microcephaly, most of which it considers to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. It is investigating more than 4,200 additional suspected cases of microcephaly. Read more at http://newsdaily.com/2016/04/two-vietnamese-women-contract-zika-virus-first-in-vietnam-government/#QYRfc6AIXf2ehxoY.99

South Africa confirms first case of Zika virus .

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa confirmed its first case of the mosquito-borne Zika virus in a Columbian man, health authorities said. The virus, which is causing international alarm after spreading through much of the Americas, was detected in the man on his visit to Johannesburg, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said. “The businessman presented with fever and a rash approximately four days after arrival in South Africa but is now fully recovered,” he said. The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a global public health emergency on Feb. 1, noting its association with two neurological disorders – microcephaly in babies and Guillain-Barre syndrome that can cause paralysis. source; http://newsdaily.com/2016/02/south-africa-confirms-first-case-of-zika-virus/

VECTOR CONTROL AND ZIKA VIRUS.

When the life cycle of the mosquito is understood, then specific interventions can be instituted to kill them.The elimination of stagnant water where some of the stages occur is very important,the spraying of drains with kerosene, cleaning and removing trash from environment will also prevent development of mosquito. The use of insecticides, treated nets and treated clothes are also important.Living quarters surrounded by large bodies of water must be screened to prevent mosquito bites. The Aedes egypti is the identified specie that transmits the zika virus,its also responsible for yellow fever,dengue and chikungunya. The simple protocol of cleaning your environment,removing water collecting containers,using insecticides, clearing drains ,using treated nets and also the use of insect repellent on skin in susceptible environment will keep you safe and free from mosquito bites. Photo credit; internet.