WHO Cites 32 Zika Linked Microcephaly Cases In Colombia

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• Microcephaly and other fetal malformations have been reported in Brazil (944 cases), Cabo Verde (two cases), Colombia (32 cases), French Polynesia (eight cases), Martinique (one case) and Panama (one case). Two additional cases, linked to a stay in Brazil, were detected in the United States of America and Slovenia.

http://who.int/emergencies/zika-virus/situation-report/31-march-2016/en/

 

[niman]

On 30 March, Colombia reported 50 live births with microcephaly between 4 January 2016 and 20 March 2016. This number represents an increase compared to the historical annual average expected (140 per year). Of the 50 cases registered, 16 were discarded for microcephaly with suspected association to Zika virus. Of the remaining 34 cases, two were ruled out for not meeting the national criteria for association with microcephaly by Zika virus. The remaining cases (32) are under investigation, in order to establish the association with Zika virus infection. So far, eight of these 32 cases of microcephaly presented Zika virus positive results by real-time PCR. The investigation is ongoing and further information is expected. 

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Colombia reports 32 cases of Zika-linked birth defects

 Liz Szabo, USA TODAY2:13 p.m. EDT March 31, 2016

(Photo: Felipe Dana, AP)

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Colombia is now reporting 32 cases of a birth defect called microcephaly that is strongly linked to the Zika virus, according to the World Health Organization.

Babies with microcephaly are born with abnormally small heads and, in most cases, incomplete brain development.

Brazil — whose Zika outbreak started last May — is investigating more than 4,000 microcephaly cases and has confirmed 944 in the past few months. Brazilian officials estimate their country has had up to 1.3 million Zika cases.

Colombia's first Zika cases were diagnosed in October. WHO officials have warned that the rate of microcephaly could rise in Colombia this spring and summer as pregnant women infected with the mosquito-borne virus deliver their babies.

Zika has spread to 33 countries in the Western Hemisphere, according to the WHO.

Doctors have diagnosed one case of microcephaly in Panama and one in Martinique.Cape Verde, off the coast of Africa, has reported two cases of microcephaly since its Zika outbreak began. One U.S. resident also gave birth to a baby with microcephaly after visiting a Zika-affected area.

 

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Jose Wesley, who screams uncontrollably for long stretches, is attended to in Bonito, Pernambuco state, Brazil.  Felipe Dana, AP

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Zika virus: Heartbreaking images of birth defects

 

Scientists haven't yet completed definitive studies investigating the link between Zika, microcephaly and other forms of brain damage in babies.

But WHO officials say they consider Zika to be "guilty until proven innocent" of causing birth defects.

"It’s clear now that there is a lot of overwhelming evidence that Zika has earned its place among the causes of microcephaly," said Amesh Adalja, a senior associate at the Center for Health Security at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

In addition to small heads and brain damage, Zika also has been linked to vision problems that could leave babies blind.

"It's the virus from hell," said Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

Researchers say the reason Zika is spreading so quickly in the Western Hemisphere is that people there have no immunity to the virus, which originated in Africa.

Zika is already entrenched in Puerto Rico, the part of the U.S. that has been hardest hit.

More than 350 people in Puerto Rico, including 37 pregnant women, have been diagnosed with Zika since December. CDC officials predict Puerto Rico could have hundreds of thousands of cases.

Zika is not spreading among local mosquitoes in the continental U.S. However, 312 people have been diagnosed with the disease, including 27 pregnant women, mostly after traveling to an outbreak country. Six cases of Zika among U.S. residents have been sexually transmitted, according to the CDC.

USA TODAY

Zika Q&A: What Americans don't know about Zika is a lot

 

Meanwhile, new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Preventionsuggest that a larger portion of the U.S. could be vulnerable to Zika than previously thought.

Maps published this week by the CDC show that the main Zika mosquito, a species named Aedes aegypti, reaches as far north as San Francisco and New York. Older versions suggested the species was concentrated in the South.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/03/31/colombia-reports-32-cases-zika-linked-birth-defects/82469180/

 

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WHO links with microcephaly Zika virus and other diseases

WHO had reported that the virus was "very likely" one of the causes of diseases such as microcephaly.

Zika. (Photo: Reuters)

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Researchers are now convinced that the virus Zika associated with microcephaly in infants, with dozens of suspected cases under investigation in Colombia, and Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that can cause paralysis syndrome, said the Organization World Health Organization (WHO).

In a previous weekly report, the UN agency had already stated that the mosquito-borne virus that is spreading through Latin America and the Caribbean was "very likely" one of the causes.

"Based on observational studies, cohort and control, there is a strong scientific consensus that the virus Zika is a cause of GBS (Guillain-Barré syndrome), microcephaly and other neurological disorders," said WHO on Thursday in an update .

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Six countries in which there is no evidence that Zika is transmitted by mosquitoes have reported contracted locally, probably sexually transmitted infections, said WHO, citing Argentina, Chile, France, Italy, New Zealand and the United States .

WHO declared the outbreak of Zika as an international health emergency on February 1, noting that there is a "strongly suspect" relationship between virus infection during pregnancy and microcephaly.

Although it has not been shown to cause microcephaly Zika in babies, there is growing evidence to suggest their relationship. The condition is defined by unusually small heads that can cause developmental problems.

So far this year have reported 32 births of babies with microcephaly in Colombia and remain under investigation to establish the association with Zika, WHO said, citing figures provided by the country on March 30.

http://www.forbes.com.mx/oms-vincula-virus-zika-microcefalia-otras-enfermedades/

 

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Zika Can Cause Microcephaly, Health Agencies Confirm

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A baby born with microcephaly in Brazil is examined by a neurologist.

Felipe Dana/AP

Leading health agencies say there's now scientific consensus the Zika virus can cause microcephaly — a condition in which babies are born with very small heads and brain damage.

Scientists have been working for months to confirm a link between Zika and microcephaly, ever since Brazil reported a startling increase in cases last fall.

Zika infection during pregnancy apparently appears to increase the risk for several types of birth defects and miscarriages, a recent study found. And scientists have found the virus in the brains of affected babies.

But all this evidence is circumstantial. So the big question has been: Is Zika really the culprit?

Now the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agree there's enough evidence to say, yes, Zika is linked to microcephaly.

"At this point the most pressing question people want answered is, 'If I get Zika infection during pregnancy what are the chances my baby is going to be affected?' " says Dr. Anne Schuchat, the deputy director of the CDC. "We really feel a sense of urgency to both answer that question and to help stop the spread of the virus."

Currently the Zika virus is circulating in 33 countries in Latin America and has sickened hundreds of thousands of people.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/03/31/472607576/health-agencies-confirm-zika-has-caused-microcephaly

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Scientists Confirm Zika Virus Causes Microcephaly

The world’s scientists are united on this.

 03/31/2016 08:04 pm ET

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Stephanie Nebehay and Julie Steenhuysen

PAULO WHITAKER / REUTERS

Scientists agree that Zika virus can cause the birth defect microcephaly, as well as the neurological disorder Guillain-Barre syndrome. 

By Stephanie Nebehay and Julie Steenhuysen

GENEVA/CHICAGO (Reuters) - Researchers around the world are now convinced the Zika virus can cause the birth defect microcephaly as well as Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that can result in paralysis, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

The statement represented the U.N. health agency’s strongest language to date on the connection between the mosquito-borne virus and the two maladies.

The WHO also reported the first sign of a possible rise in microcephaly cases outside Brazil, the hardest-hit country so far in an outbreak spreading rapidly in Latin America and the Caribbean. Neighboring Colombia is investigating 32 cases of babies born with microcephaly since January, and eight of them so far have tested positive for the Zika virus, the WHO said.

This number of microcephaly cases reported in Colombia so far represents an increase over the historical annual average of about 140 cases.

“Based on observational, cohort and case-control studies, there is a strong scientific consensus that Zika virus is a cause of GBS (Guillain-Barre syndrome), microcephaly and other neurological disorders,” the WHO said on Thursday.

In its previous weekly report, the WHO had said Zika was “highly likely” to be a cause.

The WHO in February declared the Zika outbreak an international health emergency, citing a “strongly suspected” relationship between Zika infection in pregnancy and microcephaly.

Although Zika has not been proven conclusively to cause microcephaly in babies, evidence of a link was based on a major spike in Brazil in cases of microcephaly, defined by unusually small head size that can result in severe developmental problems.

Brazil’s health department this week reported 944 confirmed cases of microcephaly, and most are believed to be related to Zika infections in the mother.

Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, was not surprised by the WHO’s statement.

“The evidence is just so overwhelming,” said Hotez. He said the link to Guillain-Barre has also been pretty clear.

“The only lack of clarity,” Hotez said, “is the percentage of pregnant women infected with Zika who give birth to a baby with microcephaly,” which appears to be much higher than what was seen in a previous outbreak in French Polynesia.

While Guillain-Barre is a concern, Hotez said, “the overwhelming emphasis needs to be on preventing microcephaly in babies.”

In recent studies, researchers have seen evidence of the virus in brain cells of stillborn and aborted fetuses. They also have seen signs that the brain had been growing normally, but that growth was disrupted and the brain actually shrank.

Scientists have been closely monitoring for possible microcephaly cases outside Brazil to rule out environmental factors in Brazil as a cause. Colombia has been following the pregnancies of women infected with Zika after seeing widespread transmission of the virus since October.

The latest WHO report reflects an increase in microcephaly and other fetal abnormalities in Colombia, where 56,477 suspected cases of Zika infection have been reported, including 2,361 laboratory-confirmed cases.

The two most important factors that predict where we’re going to be start seeing microcephaly cases are presence of the mosquito that carries Zika virus and poverty, Hotez said.

He is worried that Haiti will be hard hit. “The Gulf coast in the U.S. is similarly vulnerable.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will convene a conference in Atlanta on Friday to prepare for a coordinated U.S. response to Zika. Health officials are girding for an increase of Zika cases, especially in southern states, as the U.S. mosquito season starts.

Six countries where Zika is not known to be spreading by mosquitoes have reported locally acquired infections, probably through sexual transmission, the WHO said, naming Argentina, Chile, France, Italy, New Zealand and the United States.

To date, 13 countries or territories have reported increased incidence of Guillain-Barre or laboratory confirmation of a Zika virus infection in people with the rare autoimmune disease, it added.

 

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay, Julie Steenhuysen and Bill Berkrot; Editing by Will Dunham and Grant McCool)

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/scientists-confirm-zika-virus-causes-microcephaly_us_56fdb9ade4b083f5c60756f5