A Dublin-based tropical disease specialist says he believes he has already treated at least one patient for the Zika Virus in Ireland.
However, Director of the Irish Tropical Medical Bureau Graham Fry said that, although it is causing panic internationally, with up to four million people expected to be infected this year, there is little danger of the disease spreading here because it is transmitted by mosquitoes.
Meanwhile the chief of the World Health Organisation is to hold a meeting on Monday to decide whether the ‘explosive’ Zika Virus outbreak should be declared an international emergency.
Speaking from Geneva, WHO director-general Margaret Chan described the virus, and its links to microcephaly (a congenital condition associated with incomplete brain development) in infants, as a threat ‘of alarming proportions’.
Women in El Salvador, Jamaica, Equador and Colombia have been advised to delay pregnancy where possible to avoid a situation such as the worsening one in Brazil, where it is estimated up to 4,000 infants have been born with microcephaly after their mothers contracted the virus during pregnancy.
Scientists are scrambling to develop a vaccine for pregnant women, but it is unlikely one will be available until the end of the year.
Click here for a full list of destinations to avoid if you are pregnant. For more information, see the Health Protection Surveillance Centre.
