The World Health Organization has declared the Zika virus a “public health emergency of international concern” – only the fourth time the designation has been used since introduced in 2007.
Detail from one of the posters produced by the World Health Organization to educate people with regard to preventing the spread of the Zika virus.
The announcement comes as the virus – which is transmitted by a particular type of mosquito and which, it is “strongly suspected” may cause microcephaly or stunted head growth, in babies – has been detected in 25 countries in the Americas, according to the Pan American Health Organization.
Brazilian authorities have reportedly estimated as many as 1.5 million people in that country alone have caught the virus.
Announcing the decision, Dr Margaret Chan, director-general of the WHO, said the decision took into account the patterns of recent outbreak and the broad geographical distribution of the mosquito species that can transmit the virus.
“The lack of vaccines and rapid and reliable diagnostic tests, and the absence of population immunity in newly affected countries were cited as further causes for concern,” she said.
Dr Chan called for a “coordinated international response is needed to improve surveillance, the detection of infections, congenital malformations, and neurological complications, to intensify the control of mosquito populations, and to expedite the development of diagnostic tests and vaccines to protect people at risk, especially during pregnancy”.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control, prior to the current outbreak, outbreaks have previously occurred in Africa, South-East Asia and the Pacific Islands.
There is currently no vaccine for the virus and it has reportedly been estimated this could take between three to five years to develop.