Zika outbreak is now a global emergency: World Health Organisation

The World Health Organisation on Tuesday declared an international emergency over the spread of the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which is linked to birth defects in the Americas, saying it is an ‘extraordinary event’.

In assessing the level of threat, 18 experts and advisers looked in particular at the strong association, in time and place, between infection with the Zika virus and a rise in detected cases of congenital malformations and neurological complications.

The experts agreed that a causal relationship between Zika infection during pregnancy and microcephaly is strongly suspected, though not yet scientifically proven. It was agreed on the urgent need to coordinate international efforts to investigate and understand this relationship better.

The experts also considered patterns of recent spread and the broad geographical distribution of mosquito species that can transmit the virus.

The lack of vaccines and rapid and reliable diagnostic tests, and the absence of population immunity in newly affected countries were cited as further causes for concern.

After a review of the evidence, the committee advised that the recent cluster of microcephaly cases and other neurological disorders reported in Brazil, following a similar cluster in French Polynesia in 2014, constitutes an “extraordinary event” and a public health threat to other parts of the world.

In their view, a coordinated international response is needed to minimise the threat in affected countries and reduce the risk of further international spread.

The members of the committee agreed that the situation meets the conditions for a public health emergency of international concern.

The committee said that a coordinated international response is needed to improve surveillance, the detection of infections, congenital malformations, and neurological complications, to intensify the control of mosquito populations, and to expedite the development of diagnostic tests and vaccines to protect people at risk, especially during pregnancy.

Image: World Health Organisation Director-General Margaret Chan speaks during a news conference after the first meeting of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee concerning the Zika virus and observed increase in neurological disorders and neonatal malformations in Geneva, Switzerland. Photograph: Pierre Albouy/Reuters