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Zika outbreak: What you need to know
The Zika virus, an alarming and disturbing infection that may be linked to thousands of babies being born with underdeveloped brains, is spreading through the Americas.
Some areas have declared a state of emergency, doctors have described it as "a pandemic in progress" and some are even advising women in affected countries to delay getting pregnant. What are the symptoms?
Deaths are rare and only one in five people infected is thought to develop symptoms.These include:
- mild fever
- conjunctivitis (red, sore eyes)
- headache
- joint pain
- a rash
There is no vaccine or drug treatment. Patients are advised to rest and drink plenty of fluids.
But the biggest concern is the impact it could have on babies developing in the womb and the surge in microcephaly.
What is microcephaly?
The severity varies, but it can be deadly if the brain is so underdeveloped that it cannot regulate the functions vital to life.
Children that do survive face intellectual disability and development delays.
It can be caused by infections such as rubella, substance abuse during pregnancy or genetic abnormalities.
Brazil had fewer than 150 cases of microcephaly in the whole of 2014, but there have been more than 3,500 reported cases since October.
The link with Zika has not been confirmed.
But some babies who died had the virus in their brain and it has been detected in placenta and amniotic fluid too.
Where did Zika come from?
It was first identified in monkeys in Uganda in 1947.The first human case was detected in Nigeria in 1954 and there have been further outbreaks in Africa, South East Asia and the Pacific Islands.
But in May 2015 it was reported in Brazil and has spread rapidly.
It has since also been reported in: Barbados, Bolivia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Saint Martin, Suriname and Venezuela.
"Its current explosive pandemic re-emergence is, therefore, truly remarkable," the US National Institutes of Health said.
How does it spread?
It is spread by Aedes mosquitoes.They are found throughout the Americas except for Canada and Chile where it is too cold for them to survive.
If they drink the blood of an infected person they can then infect subsequent people they bite.
And, unlike the mosquitoes that spread malaria, they are mostly active during the day, so bed nets offer limited protection.
The WHO expects Zika to spread throughout the Americas, but other scientists have warned that countries in Asia could face large outbreaks too.
What can people do?
As there is no treatment, the only option is to reduce the risk of being bitten.Health officials advise people to:
- use insect repellents
- cover up with long-sleeved clothes
- keep windows and doors closed
The US Centers for Disease Control has advised pregnant women not to travel to affected areas.
What is being done?
Image copyright Getty Images He also said more money was being put into the development of a vaccine.
Some scientists are also trialling the use of genetically modified sterile mosquitoes that appear to reduce mosquito populations by 90%.
Meanwhile, efforts are under way to kill the mosquitoes with insecticide.
Are the Olympic Games under threat?
The Brazilian authorities will be targeting the mosquitoes' breeding grounds in the run-up to the Games.
However, it says fumigation will be carried out only on a "case-by-case" basis because of potential health concerns for athletes and visitors.
There is also some hope there will be fewer mosquitoes in August as the month is both cooler and drier.
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