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Zika virus now global health emergency –WHO

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The now dreaded Zika virus which is spreading fast in South America has now been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The declaration by the WHO which states that the mosquito-borne virus is now a “public health emergency of international concern,” will now see more money, resources and scientific research dedicated to fight the disease which is turning out to be a global scare.

Read also: Ebola: Not yet Uhuru as S’Leone records new case

According to Margaret Chan, the director-general of the WHO, while referring to both the microcephaly birth defects and the rare cases of paralysis known as Guillain-Barre syndrome, she said; “The connection between the Zika virus and other neurological disorders is “strongly suspected, though not yet scientifically proven”.

Chan noted that the WHO “found no public health justification for restrictions on travel or trade to restrict the spread of the Zika virus,” following reports that there are now 25 countries affected by the virus.

Previously the international organisation had used such a classification for incidents such as the Ebola outbreak in 2014, a resurgence of polio earlier that same year, the H1N1 pandemic in 2009 and the fourth being Zika virus.

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