UN agency underscores human, food safety in efforts to combat spread of Zika virus

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Tuesday said that it could assist countries impacted by the Zika virus with targeted interventions, while ensuring that people and the environment are not exposed to health and other risks stemming from the inappropriate use of potentially dangerous chemicals.

"At least in the short term, a dramatic increase in the use of insecticides to spray mosquito populations or treat waters is likely," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, quoting information from the FAO, the UN agency that leads the international hunger to defeat hunger.

However, the FAO stressed that a more immediate and relatively simple set of actions can be taken to combat the spread of the Zika virus, Dujarric said. "That is to ensure the removal of stagnant water used by mosquitos to breed."

"If the intensive use of insecticides is indeed required, FAO said it is then essential that it be done with great care to promote safety for humans and to protect the food chain from contamination," he said.

Zika is transmitted primarily by Aedes mosquitos, which also transmit chikungunya and dengue viruses. It is strongly suspected of causing birth malformations. Thus, women in Brazil, Colombia and El Salvador have been advised against getting pregnant during the outbreak.

Zika virus was first isolated from a monkey in the Zika forest in Uganda in 1947. Symptoms of Zika include low-grade fever, joint pain, rash, conjunctivitis, headache, muscle and eye pain. Endit