Brazil has increase number of babies born with abnormally small heads to mothers infected with the Zika virus. The virus is been transmitted by the bite of the Aedes aegypti mosquito which is also spreads dengue and chikungunya. Brazil has the largest outbreak of the Zika virus. The health ministry in Brazil gave a report of five babies already dead as a result of the virus and further investigations are been carried out on other 44 deaths. Last week, Brazilian Health Minister Marcelo Castro said a new testing kit was being developed to identify quickly the presence of either of the three viruses.He also announced extra funds to speed up the development of a vaccine for Zika.
At the moment the only way to fight Zika is to clear standing water where mosquitoes breed.There has been a sharp rise in the number of cases of Zika in several other Latin American countries. In Colombia, more than 13,500 cases have been reported."We are the second country [in Latin America] after Brazil in the number of reported cases," said Health Minister Alejandro Gaviria.He has advised women in the country not to get pregnant for the rest of the outbreak which, he said, could last until July.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an alert last Friday advising pregnant women to avoid travelling to Brazil and other Latin American and Caribbean countries where outbreaks of Zika have been registered.
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