Turkey- Zika virus a global emergency says UN health body

2/2/2016 4:44:13 AM

(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) The Zika virus outbreak in the Americas was declared an international public health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday.

Citing its Director-General Dr Margaret Chan the WHO posted a Twitter message describing the Zika virus and microcephaly situation as a “Public Health Emergency of Intl concern”.

Microcephaly is a birth defect affecting brain development in fetuses that has been linked to but not proven to be caused by the virus.

The WHO convened an emergency committee on the mosquito-borne virus on Monday following a sharp rise in the number of Zika cases across the Americas where thousands of people in 22 countries and territories have been infected.

There is no vaccine or treatment.

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