Mchizi
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- Apr 23, 2009
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The Zika virus which has infected more than 7,500 people in an island nation off the western coast of Africa is the same strain spreading through the Americas.
Today, the World Health Organization confirmed the virus in Cape Verde is the same as the one behind an explosion of cases in the Americas.
Three babies have developed microcephaly - the same devastating condition that has left babies in Brazil and elsewhere with undersized brains and skulls.
'This is the first time that strain of Zika which has been showed to cause neurological disorders and microcephaly has been detected in Africa,' said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO's Africa regional chief.
The so-called Asian strain of the virus has infected some 1.5 million people in hardest-hit country Brazil alone, and was detected in Cape Verde through the sequencing of Zika cases in the island nation.
'It is the same genetic material as the virus in Brazil,' WHO spokeswoman Marsha Vanderford told AFP.
'The findings are of concern because it is further proof that the outbreak is spreading beyond South America and is on the doorstep of Africa.
'This information will help African countries to re-evaluate their level of risk and adapt and increase their levels of preparedness,' she said.
The news comes days after experts said it was only a matter of time until Zika hit parts of Europe in late spring and summer.
Overall, a third of countries in Europe have a 'moderate' risk of an outbreak of the virus, which has been linked to severe birth defects in babies.
Madeira and the Black Sea are on high alert - but popular tourist destinations including France, Italy and Spain are also at 'moderate risk'.
The large and spreading outbreak of Zika that began in Brazilhas caused global alarm, after thousands of cases of microcephaly in babies were linked to women who become infected with the virus while pregnant.
Experts agree that Zika is behind a surge in cases of the birth defect microcephaly - babies born with abnormally small heads and brains -after their mothers were infected with the virus.
Cape Verde, which reported its first Zika case in October, is a former Portuguese colony like Brazil, where the mosquito-borne virus emerged last year before spreading to nearly 60 countries.
Its emergence near Africa raises new concerns because many of the nearby countries on the continent have very poor health infrastructure as was laid bare by the Ebola epidemic that ravished Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
The virus, which also causes the rare but serious neurological disorder Guillain-Barre Syndrome, is mainly spread by two species of Aedes mosquito but has also been shown to transmit through sexual contact.
WHO believes the Asian Zika strain was imported to Cape Verde by a traveller coming from Brazil, before it began spreading locally.
The African strain of the Zika virus, which takes its name from Uganda's tropical Zika forest where it was first discovered in 1947, has been widespread on the continent for decades.
But until recently, Zika sparked little concern, as it usually causes only mild, flu-like symptoms and Africans have generally built up immunity against the African strain.
It remains unclear what impact the Asian strain of the virus could have in Africa, said Bruce Aylward, WHO chief on outbreaks and health emergencies.
As of May 8, 7,557 suspected Zika cases had been registered in Cape Verde, as well as three microcephaly cases, WHO said.
No cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome have been registered in the country so far.
Dr Anna Checkley, a tropical disease specialist at the University College London Hospitals said the Asian strain of the virus was responsible for the outbreak in Polynesia in 2007, and it is also responsible for the current Zika epidemic.
Today the WHO confirmed it was the Asian, rather than teh AFrican strain, that is causing the current infection on the continent.
She said: 'It is not known why the virus has become so much more aggressive since it was first described in 1947, and there are a number of possible explanations for this.
'It has probably been circulating at a low level in African countries for more than 50 years, so some of the population may already be immune.
‘It is likely that the South American, Caribbean and Polynesian populations had no prior immunity to the virus, so a high proportion of people who are bitten by infected mosquitos caught the disease.
“It may be that the Asian strain of the virus is more infectious to humans, so it spreads from human (via mosquito) to human.
She added: ‘The African strain is probably more infectious to primates other than humans, causing the occasional sporadic human case.
'Since human cases in Africa are so few and far between, we don’t yet know whether the African strain of the virus also causes Congenital Zika Syndrome – the form linked to microcephaly.
‘For the same reason we do not know whether people who have been infected with the African strain are protected against catching the Asian strain.
‘In fact, we do not even know whether individuals who have recovered from the Asian strain are protected against a second infection with the same strain.'
Source: DailyaMail
Today, the World Health Organization confirmed the virus in Cape Verde is the same as the one behind an explosion of cases in the Americas.
Three babies have developed microcephaly - the same devastating condition that has left babies in Brazil and elsewhere with undersized brains and skulls.
'This is the first time that strain of Zika which has been showed to cause neurological disorders and microcephaly has been detected in Africa,' said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO's Africa regional chief.
The so-called Asian strain of the virus has infected some 1.5 million people in hardest-hit country Brazil alone, and was detected in Cape Verde through the sequencing of Zika cases in the island nation.
'It is the same genetic material as the virus in Brazil,' WHO spokeswoman Marsha Vanderford told AFP.
'The findings are of concern because it is further proof that the outbreak is spreading beyond South America and is on the doorstep of Africa.
'This information will help African countries to re-evaluate their level of risk and adapt and increase their levels of preparedness,' she said.
The news comes days after experts said it was only a matter of time until Zika hit parts of Europe in late spring and summer.
Overall, a third of countries in Europe have a 'moderate' risk of an outbreak of the virus, which has been linked to severe birth defects in babies.
Madeira and the Black Sea are on high alert - but popular tourist destinations including France, Italy and Spain are also at 'moderate risk'.
The large and spreading outbreak of Zika that began in Brazilhas caused global alarm, after thousands of cases of microcephaly in babies were linked to women who become infected with the virus while pregnant.
Experts agree that Zika is behind a surge in cases of the birth defect microcephaly - babies born with abnormally small heads and brains -after their mothers were infected with the virus.
Cape Verde, which reported its first Zika case in October, is a former Portuguese colony like Brazil, where the mosquito-borne virus emerged last year before spreading to nearly 60 countries.
Its emergence near Africa raises new concerns because many of the nearby countries on the continent have very poor health infrastructure as was laid bare by the Ebola epidemic that ravished Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
The virus, which also causes the rare but serious neurological disorder Guillain-Barre Syndrome, is mainly spread by two species of Aedes mosquito but has also been shown to transmit through sexual contact.
WHO believes the Asian Zika strain was imported to Cape Verde by a traveller coming from Brazil, before it began spreading locally.
The African strain of the Zika virus, which takes its name from Uganda's tropical Zika forest where it was first discovered in 1947, has been widespread on the continent for decades.
But until recently, Zika sparked little concern, as it usually causes only mild, flu-like symptoms and Africans have generally built up immunity against the African strain.
It remains unclear what impact the Asian strain of the virus could have in Africa, said Bruce Aylward, WHO chief on outbreaks and health emergencies.
As of May 8, 7,557 suspected Zika cases had been registered in Cape Verde, as well as three microcephaly cases, WHO said.
No cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome have been registered in the country so far.
Dr Anna Checkley, a tropical disease specialist at the University College London Hospitals said the Asian strain of the virus was responsible for the outbreak in Polynesia in 2007, and it is also responsible for the current Zika epidemic.
Today the WHO confirmed it was the Asian, rather than teh AFrican strain, that is causing the current infection on the continent.
She said: 'It is not known why the virus has become so much more aggressive since it was first described in 1947, and there are a number of possible explanations for this.
'It has probably been circulating at a low level in African countries for more than 50 years, so some of the population may already be immune.
‘It is likely that the South American, Caribbean and Polynesian populations had no prior immunity to the virus, so a high proportion of people who are bitten by infected mosquitos caught the disease.
“It may be that the Asian strain of the virus is more infectious to humans, so it spreads from human (via mosquito) to human.
She added: ‘The African strain is probably more infectious to primates other than humans, causing the occasional sporadic human case.
'Since human cases in Africa are so few and far between, we don’t yet know whether the African strain of the virus also causes Congenital Zika Syndrome – the form linked to microcephaly.
‘For the same reason we do not know whether people who have been infected with the African strain are protected against catching the Asian strain.
‘In fact, we do not even know whether individuals who have recovered from the Asian strain are protected against a second infection with the same strain.'
Source: DailyaMail
