Mosquito

A molecule previously used as an antibiotic could be key in combating the effects of the Zika virus, according to new research from a Spanish university.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KEELPNO) said that the first case of the West Nile Virus has been confirmed in Greece this year. The watchdog said that no cases of the virus in humans had been recorded in 2015 and 2016.

The UN's health agency warned April 25 of the potential for a "marked increase" in Zika infections, and the spread of the virus to new parts of the world, even as the outbreak declines in Brazil.
 
Largely contained to Latin America and the Caribbean, Zika's range is likely to expand as summer arrives in the northern hemisphere -- and with it virus-transmitting mosquitoes.

U.S. health officials have concluded that infection with the Zika virus in pregnant women is a cause of the birth defect microcephaly and other severe brain abnormalities in babies. 

It was a typically anodyne statement by the World Health Organisation: "Given the magnitude of the Zika crisis, WHO encourages affected countries and their partners to boost the use of both old and new approaches to mosquito control." Anodyne, that is, until you realize what they mean by "new approaches."

More than 3,100 pregnant Colombian women are infected with the mosquito-borne Zika virus, President Juan Manuel Santos said on Feb. 6, as the disease continues its rapid spread across the Americas. 

There are 25,645 people infected with Zika in Colombia, Santos said during a TV broadcast with health officials. Among them are 3,177 pregnant women. 

A small Australian maker of bug sprays became an unlikely beneficiary of the mosquito-borne Zika virus outbreak this week when the country's Olympic team signed it up as its first official insect repellent sponsor. 

Brazil warned pregnant women on Feb. 1 to stay away from the Summer Olympics after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an international emergency over the Zika virus, blamed for causing a surge in brain-damaged babies.

The Zika virus does not pose a serious threat for Turkey due to geographical distance, says the head of the Turkish Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (KLIMIK), Professor Önder Ergönül, while warning that international travel to regions of outbreak risk pregnant women's lives.

The World Health Organization (WHO) readies to meet at a special meeting on Feb. 1 to decide if they should declare an international health emergency for the Zika virus, which is "spreading explosively" in the Americas and could see up to 4 million cases over the next year, international health officials said Jan. 28.