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Nadja Bezerra, 42, with
her two-month old baby, Alice Vitoria, who was born with suspected Zika-related
microcephaly, visits her neighbor in Recife, Brazil, on Jan. 10. (Lianne
Milton/Panos Pictures for The Washington Post)
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The mosquito-borne Zika virus, which is suspected
of causing brain damage to babies in Brazil, is likely to spread to all
countries in the Americas except for Canada and Chile, the World Health
Organization said on Monday.
Reuters reports that Zika has not yet been
reported in the continental United States, although a woman who fell ill with
Zika in Brazil later gave birth to a brain-damaged baby in Hawaii.
Brazil's Health Ministry in November confirmed
the 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.
The disease's rapid spread, to 21 countries and
territories of the region since May 2015, is due to a lack of immunity among
the population and the prevalence of the Aedes aegypti mosquito that carries the virus, the WHO said in
a statement.
Evidence about other transmission routes is
limited.
"Zika has been isolated in human semen, and
one case of possible person-to-person sexual transmission has been described.
However, more evidence is needed to confirm whether sexual contact is a means
of Zika transmission," it said.
There is currently no evidence of Zika being
transmitted to babies through breast milk, the WHO said.
It advised pregnant women planning to travel to
areas where Zika is circulating to consult a healthcare provider before
travelling and on return.
Zika has historically occurred in parts of
Africa, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. But it is normally a mild
disease and there is little scientific data on it, so it is unclear why it
might be causing microcephaly in Brazil, the WHO has said.
WHO Director-General Margaret Chan told the WHO
executive board 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.
"Although a causal link between Zika
infection in pregnancy and microcephaly has not, and I must emphasize, has not
been established, the circumstantial evidence is suggestive and extremely
worrisome," Chan said.
Brazilians Panic
As Mosquito-Borne Virus Is Linked To Brain Damage In Thousands Of Babies
The Washington Post reports:
Jusikelly da Silva was full of expectations for
her baby. This was to be her fourth with her spouse, Josenildo, and the couple
had three other children from previous relationships. “All perfect, all
normal,” her husband said of their family.
Then, at the six-month mark of her pregnancy,
Jusikelly, 32, learned from a scan that her baby had microcephaly, a rare
defect that causes infants to have unusually small heads and can lead to
learning and motor difficulties.
Parents such as the da Silvas are struggling as
South America’s largest country faces an unprecedented outbreak of microcephaly
cases. Brazilian officials say the disease is being triggered by Zika — a
little-known virus borne by mosquitoes. The government has spent more than
US$300 million to battle the mosquito, mobilizing hundreds of soldiers in the
effort.
Concern about Zika has grown so strong that the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention late Friday issued a travel
alert urging pregnant women not to visit Brazil or about a dozen other
countries in the region where mosquitoes have spread the virus.
In the northeastern city of Recife, Jusikelly
wiped away tears as she cuddled and kissed her baby Luhandra, now two months
old. “She will have some mental difficulties,” she said. “She does not react
like other children. She does not laugh.”
The da Silvas’ lives are on hold, the mother
said.
“We stopped everything,” said Jusikelly. After
the diagnosis, the couple dropped plans to open a small bakery. “I couldn’t
work,” she said.
The rise in microcephaly cases in Brazil has been
startling: there were just 147 in 2014. But since October, 3,530 possible cases
of Zika-related microcephaly have been reported to the Ministry of Health.
Authorities say the real number of cases is almost certainly lower, with some
of those misdiagnosed as microcephaly. Still, officials have also reported 46
deaths of babies who had microcephaly that may have been related to Zika.
The Zika virus was first identified in a rhesus
monkey in Uganda in 1947, but its initial outbreak in humans was in 2007, on
the South Pacific island of Yap. It is typically transmitted to people by
infected mosquitoes and can cause flulike symptoms.
But the virus had never been linked to
microcephaly before. Instead, microcephaly was thought to be genetic or caused
by diseases such as rubella. Researchers say they are now in unchartered
territory on the issue.
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South
America’s biggest country has seen a rise in cases of a disease triggered by
the little-known Zika virus being linked to a spike in birth defects.
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Brazilian
authorities first confirmed the presence of the Zika virus in May. Some
researchers speculate it may have been introduced into the country by a tourist
attending the 2014 World Cup. It has now spread to other countries in Latin
America, and Puerto Rico recorded its first case in December. A Texas woman who
traveled to El Salvador has also been diagnosed with the virus.
The
World Health Organization and the CDC have yet to definitively establish a
connection between Zika and microcephaly, which has been reported only in
Brazil. But the CDC, which is helping to investigate the Brazilian outbreak,
has just provided the strongest sign yet of such a link — confirming the
presence of Zika in the bodies of two newborns who died and in the placentas of
two women who miscarried. All four cases also involved microcephaly.
The
Brazilian Health Ministry says 80 percent of those who catch Zika show no
symptoms. The rest may suffer fever, muscle pain and rashes for a few days.
Most people who come down with it recovery quickly.
“We
never paid too much attention to this virus,” said Paulo Zanotto, a
microbiology professor at the University of Sao Paulo who is coordinating a
network of 42 laboratories studying Zika. “I’m really worried because we have
no idea of the amount of spread.” The government estimates that there are
between 400,000 and 1.4 million Zika cases in the country.
Brazilian
authorities have launched a national plan in response to the outbreak, sending
over 100 tons of a biological agent that kills mosquito larvae to affected
areas. It has set up headquarters in affected states, staffing them with
military, health and education officials.
‘Love,
care and patience’
In
Recife, mothers impacted by the outbreak are struggling to come to terms with
their babies’ conditions.
On
a recent morning, Mariana Carvalho, 16, cuddled her six-week-old daughter,
Agatha, after a consultation at the local Oswaldo Cruz hospital. Agatha was
diagnosed with microcephaly a day before she was born.
“At
the time I didn’t believe it. I wanted my daughter to be normal,” she said. But
Carvalho said she loves her daughter nonetheless. “It doesn’t change anything,”
she said.
Maria
Rodrigues, 29, suffered Zika-like symptoms while she was pregnant with Maria
Eduarda, her ninth child. When the baby was born on Nov. 22, she was diagnosed
with microcephaly.
Rodrigues
and the infant’s father, Romero Perreira, 39, scratch out a living recycling
garbage they collect on the streets. Romero’s sister Miriam, 40, plans to adopt
Maria Eduarda.
Doctors
told Miriam the infant could face problems walking, talking and hearing — she
already struggles to swallow and see properly. “The only thing we can give her
is love, care and patience,” the aunt said, cradling the child in her house in
a Recife suburb, next door to the tiny dwelling where the baby’s parents live.
The
microcephaly cases have occurred around the country, but the most significant
concentrations are in northeastern states such as Pernambuco. The Zika virus
may have spread especially quickly there because residents have stored water in
tanks during a long-running drought, creating breeding grounds for mosquitoes,
said José Iran, health secretary for Pernambuco.
Some
doctors in northeastern Brazil have gone so far as to advise women to hold off
getting pregnant.
The
Brazilian army has provided 750 soldiers to fight the mosquito in Pernambuco.
On a recent Saturday morning in Recife, the state’s capital, troops joined
health workers going door to door in the Brasilia Teimosa neighborhood to warn
residents against leaving water receptacles uncovered. They also spooned a
powdered biological agent into tanks and drains in an attempt to kill any
mosquito larvae.
Many
residents said that either they or relatives had caught Zika or other
mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue or chikungunya.
“I
would describe this as one of the biggest challenges in public health in
Brazil’s recent history,” said Jailson Correa, Recife’s health secretary,
referring to the outbreak of those diseases and the microcephaly cases.
In
Recife, the rate of new microcephaly cases has diminished in recent weeks, but
there are fears of another outbreak if Zika spreads during the summer.
Parents
affected by the outbreak are preparing themselves for a difficult future with
children who may need constant care.
Nadja
Bezerra already had a 15-year-old son when she found herself pregnant last
year. Then a scan at seven months revealed that her baby’s head and brain had
not grown as they should have.
“The
bomb dropped,” she said. “The worst day of my life.”
The
42-year-old cried as she recalled how, after her daughter, Alice, was born two
months ago, she lay in the maternity ward and watched other mothers pass by
with healthy babies.
Bezerra
has decided to give up her job at a call center to care for Alice. The family
will depend on the US$173 monthly salary that her husband, João, 54, earns
cleaning planes at the nearby airport.
Originally published (STORY 1) in Reuters and (STORY 2) in The Washington Post
