From Ebola to Zika health scare

Sueli Maria (obscured) holds her daughter Milena, who has microcephaly, (born seven days ago), at a hospital in Recife, Brazil, January 28, 2016. Milena was born with microcephaly, a neurological disorder that damaged her brain and also affected her vision, a condition associated with an outbreak of Zika virus in Brazil. [Photo/Xinhua]

Last year, it was the Ebola virus that threatened world health; this year, the buzz word is 'Zika'. It shows that microbes are getting really viral despite immense progress in health sciences to eliminate them, so that, in future, they might become true 'weapons of mass destruction' threatening global survival.

The Zika infection is linked to the cases of microcephaly, a rare neurological condition in which an infant's head is significantly smaller than that of others of the same age.

The brains of infected babies remain underdeveloped and it becomes a lifelong condition for them, hugely affecting their lives as well as of those closely associated to them, especially the parents and other siblings. It can also shorten lives.

The spread of the virus has become quite alarming in the Americas, where several countries have reportedly been exposed. In Brazil alone, there have been about 4,000 reported cases of microcephaly since last October.

Already, more than 20 countries have reported incidences of the disease, raising fears it could become a global problem.

The threat is being taken very seriously and the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared global public health emergency to deal with it. The WHO response was rather quick, after it faced heavy criticism for its delay in declaring a health emergency after Ebola outbreak.

The WHO has placed Zika in the same high level category of concern as was eventually adopted over Ebola. It means that global efforts are now underway to try and deal with the problem before it is too late.

If Zika goes global it could become unmanageable, because there is currently no vaccine or effective medicine to combat it. Imagine then, the rampaging effect the disease could have in the absence of a proper remedy.

The current emphasis is mostly on precautions to avoid catching up the disease. The basic one is to avoid contact with the Aedes mosquito that carries the virus and whose bite can transmit it to healthy people. Travelers are also being advised to delay or cancel trips to the countries where the disease is already prevalent.