The statement by United States health officials that the Zika virus causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads has turned the spotlight on prevention and containing the disease.
Doctors in Brazil have for a year been linking Zika infections in pregnant women to the rise in newborns with microcephaly, or an unusually small skull. The new evidence includes signs of the virus in the brain tissue, spinal fluid and amniotic fluid of microcephaly babies. In most people, the virus causes only a mild and brief illness. But in the last year, infections in pregnant women have been strongly linked to fetal deaths and devastating birth defects, mostly in Brazil.
Health officials have asked pregnant women to use a number of measures to ward off the illness, including the use of mosquito repellent, covering up, and avoiding travel to Zika-stricken regions.
But more needs to be done now, especially as a surge in such cases is expected in the spring season. Technology is being increasingly used to fight the disease. A new method involves using genetically engineered mosquitoes to pass on a lethal gene to their offspring, which in turn die before they mature. Tests have shown that this approach could become a new weapon in killing mosquitoes, thus giving an upper hand in the fight against all mosquito borne diseases, including malaria dengue fever.
But technology itself may not be enough. Public thinking and awareness about the disease and its consequences play a big role in the fight against any disease. Health authorities have called for campaigns to eliminate the sources of stagnant water in which mosquitoes breed. These include swimming pool covers, discarded tyres and flower pots.
A recent poll suggests that about 4 in 10 Americans have heard little to nothing about the Zika threat, and even among those who have been following it, many are not sure if there is a vaccine or treatment.
Funds to fight Zika is another hurdle that needs to be crossed. The US government has been urging the Congress to grant nearly $1.9 billion (Dh6.98 billion) in emergency funds to fight the virus. Governments across the globe will now have to think again at the cost and make a determined effort to halt the disease in its track.
Zika has been reported across south and central America and the Pacific islands with isolated cases in Asia. Only a concerted effort on the part of governments and the public alike can fight this new threat to health.
