The zika virus invaded Latin America a year ago, but rich countries keep dangerously underestimating it, as reported by Brazilian expert Adriana Melo, who discovered the relationship between the virus and microcephaly in newborns of infected mothers.
We have to remember that we now know that there are other ways of transmission, such as sexual intercourses, without mentioning Aedes Aegypti mosquito,
declared the specialist in an interview with AFP at an international meeting of researchers in Rio de Janeiro.
Rich countries think that it will not get there. But I am very afraid of this virus,
added Melo, stating that it is a disease that will not leave.
Apart from microcephaly in newborns, zika may be related to Guillain-Barre syndrome, a severe and potentially fatal neurological condition.
So far, Brazil has been the most affected country by zika, with almost 1.5 million people contaminated, 2,079 babies born with microcephaly and 3,077 under evaluation.
So far, there is no treatment or vaccine to fight the virus, initially transmitted by the Aedes aegypti, which is also risponsable for Chikungunya and probably the Mayaro fever.
The zika also hit Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico and Argentina, while the United States informed about cases of local transmission in Florida.