BELGRADE – The World Health Organization declared the mosquito-borne Zika virus to be an international public health emergency as the disease linked to thousands of suspected cases of birth defects in Brazil spreads rapidly.
WHO Director-General Margaret Chan told reporters on Monday an international
BELGRADE – The World Health Organization declared the mosquito-borne Zika virus to be an international public health emergency as the disease linked to thousands of suspected cases of birth defects in Brazil spreads rapidly.
WHO Director-General Margaret Chan told reporters on Monday an international coordinated response was needed to improve detection and speed work on a vaccine and better diagnostics, although curbs on travel or trade were not necessary.
The emergency designation was recommended by a committee of independent experts to the U.N. agency following criticism of a hesitant response so far. The move should help fast-track international action and research priorities.
“Members of the committee agreed that the situation meets the conditions for a public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted this advice,” Chan said.
The WHO said last week the Zika virus was “spreading explosively” and could infect as many as 4 million people in the Americas. Brazil is due to host the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August.
The WHO was lambasted for reacting too slowly to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa which killed more than 10,000 people, and has promised to do better in future global health crises.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention head Thomas Frieden said the declaration “calls the world to action” on Zika.
“The WHO faced heavy criticism for waiting too long to declare the Ebola outbreak a public health emergency and they should be congratulated for being far more proactive this time,” said Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust medical charity.
Derek Gatherer, a lecturer at Lancaster University, said the WHO’s move was “like a declaration of war, in this case on Zika virus”.
The WHO’s International Health Regulations emergency committee brings together experts in epidemiology, public health and