niman Posted July 5, 2016 Report Share Posted July 5, 2016 AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to Email App Three cases of the Zika virus have been confirmed in Guinea Bissau in WestAfrica.The UN health agency said it and national authorities are investigating whether the virus involved is the same strain as the one behind outbreaks linked to head and brain abnormalities in Brazil and elsewhere.Three of 12 samples sent to a reference laboratory in Senegal showed Zika but could not determine any link to the virus’s recent outbreak in the Americas and the western Pacific, World Health Organisation (WHO) spokesman Christian Lindmeier said.http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/africa/three-zika-virus-cases-confirmed-in-guinea-bissau-1.2710009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niman Posted July 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2016 Three Zika virus cases confirmed in Guinea BissauUN and national authorities investigating whether virus is the same strain as in Brazilabout 21 hours agoZika carrying mosquito: the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts the figure of potential risk for the birth defect microcephaly following Zika infection at anywhere between 1 per cent and 13 per cent. Photograph: Felipe Dana, AP Photo AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to Email App Three cases of the Zika virus have been confirmed in Guinea Bissau in WestAfrica.The UN health agency said it and national authorities are investigating whether the virus involved is the same strain as the one behind outbreaks linked to head and brain abnormalities in Brazil and elsewhere.Three of 12 samples sent to a reference laboratory in Senegal showed Zika but could not determine any link to the virus’s recent outbreak in the Americas and the western Pacific, World Health Organisation (WHO) spokesmanChristian Lindmeier said.The agency has been in contact with Guinea Bissau’s government, and has previously warned that any country where the Zika-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquito is prevalent could be at risk from the spread of Zika.The WHO reported that the latest Zika strain was found in Cape Verde, a group of islands off Africa’s Atlantic coast and a former Portuguese colony like Guinea Bissau and Brazil.The Cape Verde islands are located nearly 600 km (370 miles) off Africa’s western Atlantic coast, creating a geographical buffer with a West African region still reeling from the deadliest Ebola epidemic on record.Sixty-one countries and territories have reported continuing mosquito-borne transmission of the virus, the WHO said in its latest situation report on Zika published on Thursday.The Geneva-based agency has called the latest outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern”.AP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niman Posted July 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2016 (edited) Fri Jul 1, 2016 3:19pm EDTRelated: HEALTHGuinea-Bissau confirms three cases of Zika virus, government says Guinea-Bissau has confirmed its first three cases of the Zika virus in a group of islands off the mainland and has set up an emergency committee to stop further transmission of the disease, the government said on Friday.Experts have feared the tiny nation could become a gateway for Zika's spread to mainland West Africa, after an outbreak of the mosquito-borne virus was first recorded in the African island chain of Cape Verde late last year."The Health Minister has informed (the government) of three confirmed cases of Zika virus contamination located in the Bijagos Archipelago," read a government statement sent to reporters.Zika is spreading through the Caribbean and Latin America. Only about 20 percent of infected cases display symptoms, which are usually mild and include fever, joint pain and conjunctivitis.But the CDC says it can be spread from pregnant women to fetuses and has been linked to a birth defect called microcephaly, in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and sometimes brain damage.Guinea-Bissau's government said it was establishing a committee headed by Prime Minister Baciro Dja that would impose a series of measures aimed at containing the disease.The statement did not give the suspected origin of the three cases.The World Health Organisation confirmed in May that Cape Verde's Zika strain was the same one found in Brazil, where more than 1,400 cases of microcephaly have been recorded in babies whose mothers were infected with the virus during pregnancy.The Cape Verde islands are located nearly 600 km (370 miles) off Africa's western Atlantic coast, creating a geographical buffer with a West African region still reeling from the deadliest Ebola epidemic on record.However, Guinea-Bissau's Bijagos Archipelago begins just a short boat ride from the mainland. The maze of islands and waterways have helped make the chronically unstable, coup-prone nation a major transit point for South American cocaine heading to Europe. (Reporting by Alberto Dabo; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Tim Cocks, Larry King)http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-zika-bissau-idUSKCN0ZH5NK Edited July 5, 2016 by niman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niman Posted July 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2016 Guinea-Bissau records first three cases of ZikaBy AFPPUBLISHED: 12:42 EST, 2 July 2016 | UPDATED: 12:43 EST, 2 July 2016 14sharesGuinea-Bissau has recorded three cases of Zika, becoming the second country in West Africa where the dangerous viral disease has been detected, the government said on Saturday."Three cases of contamination by Zika virus have been confirmed," a statement quoted Health Minister Domingos Malu as saying.The cases occurred in the Bijagos archipelago, a group of 88 islands of which 23 are inhabited, Malu told a cabinet meeting on Friday. +1Zika is benign in most people but has been linked to microcephaly -- a shrinking of the brain and skull -- in babies, and to rare adult-onset neurological problems ©Marvin Recinos (AFP/File)The communique gave no further detail about the three cases, their location or how the disease may have arrived on the Bijagos.A hospital source told AFP that investigations were underway but the first case may have occurred early last month on Bubaque, one of the Bijagos islands.A former Portuguese colony of 1.6 million people, Guinea-Bissau suffers from chronic poverty and instability.Previously, the only other country in West Africa where Zika had been detected was Cape Verde, an archipelago in the Atlantic, where 7,500 cases have been recorded since October 2015.Saturday's statement said the authorities were taking steps to prevent further spread of the mosquito-borne virus.It announced that an anti-Zika commission had been set up, comprising several ministers under the authority of Prime Minister Baciro Dja.Zika is benign in most people but has been linked to microcephaly -- a shrinking of the brain and skull -- in babies, and to rare adult-onset neurological problems such as Guillain-Barre Syndrome, which can result in paralysis and death.In an outbreak that started last year, about 1.5 million people have been infected with Zika in Brazil, and more than 1,600 babies born with abnormally small heads and brains.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-3671599/Guinea-Bissau-records-three-cases-Zika.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niman Posted July 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2016 Zika outbreak: UN health agency confirms 3 cases in Guinea BissauSome samples sent to reference lab showed Zika but link to virus' recent outbreak in the Americas unclearThe Associated Press Posted: Jul 04, 2016 11:05 AM ET Last Updated: Jul 04, 2016 11:05 AM ETA vacuum tube holds a blood-fed strain of Aedes aegypti mosquito at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Any country where the Zika-carrying mosquito is prevalent could be at risk for Zika spread. (Jeff Miller/UW-Madison/Associated Press)10 shares Facebook Twitter Reddit Google Share Email Related StoriesObama says Congress must end deadlock on Zika fundingDamaging Zika effects found in newborns with normal-sized headsThe UN health agency says it and national authorities are investigating whether three cases of the Zika virus discovered in Guinea Bissau are of the same strain as the one behind outbreaks linked to head and brain abnormalities in Brazil and elsewhere.Three of 12 samples sent to a reference laboratory in Senegal showed Zika but could not determine any link to the virus' recent outbreak in the Americas and the western Pacific, World Health Organization spokesman Christian Lindmeier said.The agency has been in contact with Guinea Bissau's government, and has previously warned that any country where the Zika-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquito is prevalent could be at risk for Zika spread.Damaging Zika effects found in newborns with normal-sized headsWHO has reported the latest Zika strain was found in Cape Verde, a group of islands off Africa's Atlantic coast and a former Portuguese colony like Guinea Bissau and Brazil.Sixty-one countries and territories had reported continuing mosquito-borne transmission of the virus, WHO said in its latest situation report released Thursday on Zika.The Geneva-based agency has called the latest outbreak a "public health emergency of international concern."http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/zika-1.3663386 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niman Posted July 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2016 Positive tests trigger further testingThree of 12 samples from Guinea-Bissau were positive for Zika virus based on lab tests in Senegal, which weren't able to determine the exact strain, the Associated Press (AP) reported yesterday, citing WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier.The WHO has been in touch with Guinea-Bissau's government, and officials are further investigating whether the viruses detected are the same ones fueling outbreaks in countries such as Brazil.Concerns about the threat to Africa have been rising since genetic tests on Zika samples from Cape Verde, located off the coast of Africa, revealed that illnesses there were due to the Americas strain and not the African strain as previously thought.Among the many unanswered questions about Zika virus are whether previous exposure to the African strain, thought to have circulated in Africa for many decades, offers any protection against the Americas strain and whether features of the Americas strain make it more likely to cause birth defects such as microcephaly.http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2016/07/guinea-bissau-zika-detections-prompt-probe-virus-strain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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