The World Health Organization on Monday said a surge in serious birth defects in South America was "strongly suspected" of being caused by the Zika virus and constituted an international health emergency.
The UN health body said that a surge in cases of microcephaly -- a devastating condition in which a baby is born with an abnormally small head and brain -- was likely caused by the mosquito-borne Zika virus and declared the situation a "public health emergency of international concern."
The WHO is under pressure to move swiftly to tackle Zika, after admitting it was slow to respond to the recent Ebola outbreak that ravaged parts of west Africa.
WHO chief Margaret Chan said a meeting of health experts who make up the agency's emergency committee had agreed "a causal relationship between the Zika infection during pregnancy and microcephaly is strongly suspected, though not scientifically proven."
"The clusters of microcephaly and other neurological complications constitute an extraordinary event and a public health threat to other parts of the world," she said.
WHO warned last week that the mosquito-borne virus was "spreading explosively" in the Americas, and said the region could see up to four million Zika cases this year alone.
For decades after Zika was first discovered in Uganda in 1947 the mosquito-borne virus was of little concern, sporadically causing "mild" illness in human populations.
But although the symptoms of virus have until now appeared benign, growing indications of a link to microcephaly and a rare neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome have stirred growing alarm.
"Zika alone would not be a public health emergency of international concern," explained David Heymann, who chaired Monday's WHO emergency committee meeting.
'Will take time'
He stressed the urgent need to scientifically establish whether the clusters of microcephaly and Guillain Barre are caused by Zika, but acknowledged that "it will take time."
In the meantime, Chan said, the world could not put off coordinating measures to protect against the spread of Zika, in the affected region and beyond.
READ: The Zika threat
Brazil was the first to sound the alarm in the current crisis, warning in October that a rash of microcephaly cases had emerged in the northeast.
READ: Brazil declares emergency after 2,400 babies are born with brain damage
It has since become the worst affected country, with some 4,000 suspected cases of microcephaly, of which 270 have been confirmed, up from 147 in 2014.
WHO said Monday that French Polynesia had also seen a spike in microcephaly cases during a Zika outbreak there two years ago.
As alarm grows over the surge in number of cases, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Jamaica and Puerto Rico have warned women to delay conceiving until the Zika outbreak is brought under control.
Colombia, which has reported more than 20,000 Zika infections, including 2,100 in pregnant women, meanwhile warned Monday it was expecting an "explosion" of cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a serious condition affecting the nervous system.
"We are currently talking about a rate of 2.3 cases of Guillain-Barre for every 1,000 patients with Zika. That is quite a lot," Health Minister Alejandro Gaviria said on Colombian radio.
Since Colombia is forecasting about 657,000 cases of Zika during the epidemic, it expects over 1,500 cases of Guillain-Barre, he said.
Panama meanwhile said Monday it had registered 50 Zika cases, and jitters over the virus have spread far beyond the affected areas to Europe and North America, where dozens of cases have been identified among people returning from holiday or business trips.
WHO is looking to take resolute action on Zika after coming in for stinging criticism over its initially sluggish response to the devastating west Africa Ebola outbreak.
Ebola, which has killed more than 11,000 people in west Africa since late 2013, was declared a global health emergency in August 2014 and continues to carry that label.
WHO on Monday stressed to need up work to improve diagnostics and develop a vaccine for Zika -- for which there is currently no treatment.
The virus is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which also spreads dengue fever, and which is found everywhere in the Americas except Canada and Chile.
Chan said efforts to ward off Zika infections, including getting rid of stagnant water where mosquitos easily breed, and using personal protection against mosquito bites such as using repellant and sleeping under mosquito nets, could not wait.
WHO meanwhile refrained from issuing travel warnings, although Chan hinted that pregnant women might want to avoid travel to Zika-affected areas, if possible.
READ: Ministry takes steps to prevent spread of Zika virus in Malaysia
READ: Three people test positive for Zika in New York: authorities
READ: Researchers say Zika case found in Indonesia
AFP
Tue Feb 02 2016
WHO warned last week that the mosquito-borne virus was "spreading explosively" in the Americas, and said the region could see up to four million Zika cases this year alone. - AP pic
Misi menamatkan kemarau Piala Thomas di Chengdu diteruskan
Menang besar atau balik, itu situasi menanti pasukan badminton lelaki negara yang berhasrat untuk mengukir nama mereka dalam sejarah.
Break the Siege Freedom: Sampai bila misi ini akan ditangguhkan?
Penangguhan sekali lagi Misi Break the Siege Freedom Flotilla to Gaza terus menimbulkan tanda tanya kepada delegasi terlibat, sampai bila ia akan ditangguhkan.
Sehingga ke saat, rakan setugas Syaff Shukri memaklumkan, belum ada sebarang keputusan daripada Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) berhubung perkara ini.
#AWANI745
#IsraelCuak
Sehingga ke saat, rakan setugas Syaff Shukri memaklumkan, belum ada sebarang keputusan daripada Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) berhubung perkara ini.
#AWANI745
#IsraelCuak
Citra MTDC - Pengukuhan struktur untuk bina ekosistem lebih dinamik
Perbadanan Pembangunan Teknologi Malaysia, MTDC meneruskan kesinambungan dalam memacu pembangunan teknologi negara, dengan melancarkan Citra MTDC, untuk mewujudkan ekosistem inovasi yang lebih dinamik.
#AWANI745
#AWANI745
348 ditahan atas pelbagai kesalahan dadah
Polis menahan 348 individu termasuk 11 wanita dalam Ops Hawk yang dijalankan di seluruh negeri ini selama tiga hari bemula Selasa.
PM Anwar pulangkan elaun Pengerusi Khazanah, tegaskan sekali lagi tidak terima gaji
Anwar berkata beliau memulangkan elaun sebagai pengerusi Khazanah Nasional Berhad yang diterimanya dan sekali lagi menegaskan tidak menerima gaji bagi jawatan Perdana Menteri.
Ringgit ditutup kukuh berbanding dolar AS
Pada 6 petang, ringgit meningkat kepada 4.7650/7710 berbanding dolar AS daripada 4.7745/7775 ketika ditutup pada Khamis.
[TERKINI] Elaun masuk akaun bank tapi saya tak mahu - PM
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim memaklumkan, beliau memulangkan semula elaun diterimanya sebagai Pengerusi Khazanah Nasional Berhad.
Usia Persaraan: KWSP disaran sediakan pinjaman untuk akaun 1 penyimpang
KWSP disaran untuk lebih kreatif bagi membantu penyimpan capai jumlah ideal untuk zaman persaraan, iaitu sekitar RM240,000.
Penganalisis Ekonomi Dr Barjoyai Bardai mencadangkan KWSP pertimbang beri pinjaman untuk akaun 1, dengan syarat ia tidak boleh diganggu.
#AWANI745
Penganalisis Ekonomi Dr Barjoyai Bardai mencadangkan KWSP pertimbang beri pinjaman untuk akaun 1, dengan syarat ia tidak boleh diganggu.
#AWANI745
MoF tiada rekod surat kelulusan Najib
Mahkamah Tinggi Kuala Lumpur diberitahu, Kementerian Kewangan tidak mempunyai pengetahuan mengenai dua surat kelulusan yang ditandatangani oleh Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak selaku Menteri Kewangan.
#AWANI745
#AWANI745
Kes saman Ahmad Zahid terhadap Muhyiddin selesai secara baik
Kes saman yang difailkan Timbalan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi terhadap bekas Perdana Menteri Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, selesai secara baik di Mahkamah Tinggi hari ini.
Uganda laksana sekatan perjalanan, perintah berkurung bendung Ebola
Museveni berkata perintah berkurung di laksanakan di daerah berkenaan dari 7 malam hingga 6 pagi waktu tempatan.
Ghana sahkan kes pertama virus Marburg
Virus yang amat mudah berjangkit itu dikatakan daripada keluarga sama dengan virus penyebab Ebola.
Tanzania siasat penyakit misteri ragut tiga nyawa
Gejala penyakit itu termasuk demam, sakit kepala, keletihan dan pendarahan hidung, kata Ketua Pegawai Perubatan negara berkenaan, Aifello Sichalwe dalam satu kenyataan.
WHO mesyuarat minggu depan kaji penularan cacar monyet
Sehingga kini, 1,600 kes cacar monyet direkodkan di 39 negara dengan 72 kematian.
Congo umum berakhirnya wabak Ebola yang meragut 6 nyawa
Wabak itu berjaya dibendung menggunakan vaksin Ebola Merck (MRK.N) yang diberikan kepada lebih 1,600 pesakit dan kontak rapat.
Ebola: 4 dilapor meninggal dunia di Guinea, korban pertama sejak 2016
Insiden kematian itu amat membimbangkan kerana wabak yang muncul semula selepas lima tahun dari 2013 hingga 2016 itu pernah meragut 11,300 nyawa.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Berikut adalah antara yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang Selasa, 9 Februari 2021.
Congo umum penularan semula jangkitan Ebola
Kes jangkitan terbaharu dikenal pastu selepas seorang wanita di bandar Biena wilayah Lubero meninggal dunia akibat penyakit itu.
COVID-19: Afrika berdepan gelombang kedua
Sejak 28 hari lalu, kes dilaporkan meningkat di 19 negara di rantau berkenaan, termasuk Ghana, Kenya, Angola dan Algeria.
COVID-19: WHO tidak akan syor sebarang vaksin sebelum terbukti selamat
Kenyataan menyusul perkembangan terbaharu di mana Rusia dan China mula menggunakan vaksin sebelum kajian jangka panjang selesai.