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{"id":777,"date":"2016-02-19T06:48:52","date_gmt":"2016-02-19T06:48:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/whid.co\/?p=777"},"modified":"2016-02-19T06:48:52","modified_gmt":"2016-02-19T06:48:52","slug":"key-institutes-keep-keen-watch-on-zika-for-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whid.co\/key-institutes-keep-keen-watch-on-zika-for-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Key institutes keep keen watch on Zika for Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"<section>The Ebola outbreak on the continent showed how countries with poor health systems are unfit to fight epidemics.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<figure id=\"content_photo\"><a title=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/mg.co.za\/article\/2016-02-18-key-institutes-keep-keen-watch-on-zika-for-africa\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mosquito control: A Nicaraguan health worker fumigates an area in Managua. (Oswaldo Rivas\/Reuters)\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.mg.co.za\/crop\/content\/images\/2016\/02\/18\/zika3online_landscape.jpg\/676x380\/\" width=\"676\" height=\"380\" \/> <\/a><\/figure>\n<p>If the outbreak in Brazil is not significantly contained by August when the country is set to host the Olympic Games, \u201cthere will be legitimate concern that Zika may be spread globally including to mainland Africa\u201d, warns Adamson Muula, professor of epidemiology and public health at the University of Malawi. The outbreak was first reported in Brazil in May 2015.<\/p>\n<p>Africa is largely ill-prepared for large outbreak of the Zika virus, Muula says, because the continent\u2019s laboratories have limited capacity and there would not be enough experts or funds to deal with it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are, however, beacons of hope \u2013 such as the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa, the Uganda Virus Research Institute, and the Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases in Nigeria that can lead the way,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<div id=\"tt-wrapperf73ab71\">\n<div id=\"tt-mentionf73ab71\">ADVERTISING<\/div>\n<div id=\"tt-containerf73ab71\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Muula believes an overwhelming majority of the continent lacks\u00a0the infrastructural and human capacity to diagnose the Zika virus disease.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Is the Zika virus a threat to Africa? Listen\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/mg.co.za\/multimedia\/2016-02-18-is-the-zika-virus-a-threat-to-africa\">here<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Lessons from Ebola<br \/>\n<\/strong>He says Africa should learn from the recent Ebola outbreak in West Africa in the sense that unstable health systems are less able to contain infectious disease epidemics.<\/p>\n<p>This month the World Health Organization (WHO) declared\u00a0the Zika virus outbreak in 30 countries a public health emergency of international concern after\u00a0more than 4\u00a0000 babies in Brazil were born with microcephaly in a period of four months.<\/p>\n<p>Microcephaly is a \u201crare neurological condition in which an infant\u2019s head is significantly smaller\u201d than those of children of the same age. The condition is usually the result of abnormal brain development in the womb, according to the United States-based research organization, Mayo Clinic.<\/p>\n<p>Although microcephaly can be caused by a number of genetic and environmental factors, there is a \u201cstrong association in time and place, between infection with the Zika virus and a rise in detected cases of congenital malformations and neurological complications,\u201d the WHO says.<\/p>\n<p>Experts around the world have welcomed the WHO declaration, saying it will help to streamline research into the Zika outbreak and its impact.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe declaration is important on multiple fronts,\u201d Muula tells Bhekisisa. \u201cFirstly, it confirms that international health experts are taking the public health threat seriously. Secondly, in response to the declaration, there is often the enhanced provision or allocation of different resources to deal with the threat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vaccine development<br \/>\n<\/strong>Deputy director of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa, Lucille Blumberg, says the action taken by the WHO \u201cmakes the case for improved surveillance, monitoring for microcephaly and other neurological complications, as well as research efforts around vaccines\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>There is currently no vaccine or treatment for Zika virus disease,\u00a0but Blumberg says that the illness caused by Zika infection is \u201coverwhelmingly mild\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle pain, some inflammation of the eyes and a rash.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnly one in four infected people will present with any symptoms. It\u2019s a mild illness that lasts about seven days and the majority of people who are infected will get better without treatment,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>Zika virus disease is not fatal, but there have been three reported cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome \u2013 a rare neurological condition causing ascending paralyses \u2013 where the patients died, according to Blumberg.<\/p>\n<p>The illness is mainly transmitted through mosquito bites. \u201cYou won\u2019t get Zika by standing next to somebody, if they cough on you, or by sharing eating utensils,\u201d\u00a0says Blumberg. \u201cThe big concern is the association with the development of microcephaly when women are infected while pregnant.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Travel advice<br \/>\n<\/strong>A travel advisory has been issued by the Centers for Disease Control in the United States, warning pregnant women to avoid travel to any of the areas currently affected the outbreak. But the WHO says there should be \u201cno restrictions on travel or trade with countries\u201d where Zika transmission has been reported.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re considering monitoring ports, where many vessels, ships and airplanes bring in goods, just to ensure that there are no imported mosquitoes. But we have not seen Zika in Southern Africa; we\u2019ve certainly not seen it in South Africa,\u201d says Blumberg.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do have <em>Aedes aegypti<\/em> mosquitoes [the mosquitoes that transmit the Zika virus] but they appear to be a different subspecies that prefer not to feed on people. We are going to do some further studies and monitor our local <em>Aedes<\/em> populations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cape Verde off the west coast of Africa is one of nearly 30 countries that have reported an outbreak. But Muula warns that the chances of the outbreak spreading to \u201cmainland Africa\u201d are uncertain.<\/p>\n<p>While many countries on the continent, like South Africa, do have the mosquito species that transmit Zika, an offset in local transmissions \u201cwould require that an already infected mosquito come to Africa.<\/p>\n<p>This can be done through international travel by airplanes,\u201d he says. \u201cSexual transmission of Zika has already been reported in the United States. That would require an individual who is infected elsewhere to come to Africa and then have sex with a susceptible individual.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pregnant women most at risk<br \/>\n<\/strong>Blumberg says the biggest challenge when it comes to Zika, is \u201cdealing with microcephaly and managing to provide support for moms who have babies with severe neurological problems. Developing countries may not have those resources.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Investing more resources into controlling mosquito populations is key to reducing the risks associated with mosquito-borne infections.<\/p>\n<p>According to Blumberg, <em>Aedes<\/em> mosquitoes breed in little pots of water used to store water in homes in areas that water supplies are not assured.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cZika is overwhelmingly a mild illness in travellers. Infectious diseases like malaria should not be forgotten,\u201d warns Blumberg. \u201cThe Zika virus is transmitted by a day-time biting mosquito, malaria is transmitted by a night-time biting mosquito. Insect repellents are effective for both.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>The ins and outs of the virus and microcephaly<\/h2>\n<h2>Zika virus<\/h2>\n<p>The Zika virus was first identified in a sentinel rhesus macaque, a monkey found in the Zika forest in Uganda, in 1947.<\/p>\n<p>This is where the virus gets its name from, according to Lucille Blumberg, deputy direction of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa.<\/p>\n<p>In 1952 Zika was detected in humans in Uganda and Tanzania, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. Previous outbreaks of the virus have taken place in Africa, the Americas, Asia and\u00a0the Pacific.<\/p>\n<p>According to the WHO, Zika virus disease outbreaks were first reported on the Pacific island of Yap in 2007 and in the South Pacific islands of French Polynesia in 2013.<\/p>\n<p>In 2015 outbreaks were reported in Brazil and Colombia and Cape Verde islands off the coast of Senegal.<\/p>\n<p>To date, says the Pan American Health Organization, cases of Zika virus disease have been reported in 26 countries in the Americas.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Transmission<br \/>\n<\/strong>The virus is transmitted to people through the bite of an infected female <em>Aedes Aegypti <\/em>mosquito. \u201cThe mosquito needs a blood meal to mature her eggs, and if she\u2019s infected with the Zika virus by feeding on someone who was infected then she can transmit it,\u201d explains Blumberg.<\/p>\n<p>This is the same mosquito that transmits dengue, chikungunya, and yellow fever. The symptoms of these diseases are similar those caused by Zika infection.<\/p>\n<p>These include fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, and a rash, loss of appetite and fatigue, according to the WHO.<\/p>\n<p>Malaria is transmitted by a different mosquito, the <em>anopheles<\/em> mosquito.<\/p>\n<h2>Microcephaly<\/h2>\n<p>Microcephaly is a neurological disorder that is characterized by a baby having an abnormally small head.<\/p>\n<p>The Mayo Clinic, a United States-based research organization, says that the condition is usually caused by abnormal development of the baby\u2019s brain during pregnancy or \u201cnot growing as it should after birth\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>According to the organization, microcephaly is a permanent disability \u2013 the only available treatment is therapeutic support that might help enhance a child\u2019s development.<\/p>\n<p>Although microcephaly has been associated with the outbreak of the Zika virus, the Mayo Clinic states that there are many other causes of the condition. These include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Craniosynostosis \u2013 the premature fusing of the joints (sutures) between the bony plates that form an infant\u2019s skull keeps the brain from growing;<\/li>\n<li>Chromosomal abnormalities \u2013 Down syndrome and other conditions may result in microcephaly;<\/li>\n<li>Decreased oxygen to the fetal brain (cerebral anoxia) \u2013 certain complications of pregnancy or delivery can impair oxygen delivery to the fetal brain;<\/li>\n<li>Infections of the fetus during pregnancy \u2013 these include toxoplasmosis, cytomegalovirus, German measles (rubella) and chickenpox (varicella);<\/li>\n<li>Exposure to drugs, alcohol or certain toxic chemicals in the womb \u2013 any of these put one\u2019s baby at risk of brain abnormalities;<\/li>\n<li>Severe malnutrition \u2013 not getting adequate nutrition during pregnancy can affect your baby\u2019s development; and<\/li>\n<li>Uncontrolled phenylketonuria, also known as PKU, in the mother. PKU is a birth defect that hampers the body\u2019s ability to break down the amino acid phenylalanine.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><time datetime=\"2016-02-19\">M&amp;G 19.02.2016 by Ina Skosana<\/time><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Ebola outbreak on the continent showed how countries with poor health systems are unfit to fight epidemics. If the outbreak in Brazil is not significantly contained by August when the country is set to host the Olympic Games, \u201cthere<span class=\"ellipsis\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/whid.co\/key-institutes-keep-keen-watch-on-zika-for-africa\/\">Read more &#8250;<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oct_exclude_from_cache":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whid.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whid.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whid.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whid.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whid.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whid.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":778,"href":"https:\/\/whid.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777\/revisions\/778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whid.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whid.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whid.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}