The mosquito-borne Zika virus sweeping through South America has claimed three lives in Colombia, as the United Nations (UN) urged increased access to abortion because of fears of severe birth defects. Colombia’s National Health Institute (INS) on February 05, 2016 said blaming Zika for causing deaths, the patients died after contracting the virus and developing a rare neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome. Cases of the syndrome – in which the immune system attacks the nervous system, causing weakness and sometimes paralysis – have increased in tandem with the Zika outbreak. And that fueled suspicions that it is a complication of the otherwise mild tropical fever, which is also blamed for causing brain damage in babies born to infected mothers. Zika virus: Preventive and curative research
Panic runs high in South America due to the connection of the Zika virus with Microcephaly which is a rare neurological condition
Sarwar Md. Saifullah Khaled
The mosquito-borne Zika virus sweeping through South America has claimed three lives in Colombia, as the United Nations (UN) urged increased access to abortion because of fears of severe birth defects. Colombias National Health Institute (INS) on February 05, 2016 said blaming Zika for causing deaths, the patients died after contracting the virus and developing a rare neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome. Cases of the syndrome in which the immune system attacks the nervous system, causing weakness and sometimes paralysis have increased in tandem with the Zika outbreak. And that fueled suspicions that it is a complication of the otherwise mild tropical fever, which is also blamed for causing brain damage in babies born to infected mothers.
Panic runs high in South America due to the connection of the Zika virus with Microcephaly which is a rare neurological condition, in which a baby is born with a small head and brain. The affected American countries comprising Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Jamaica, Honduras, Venezuela and Panama have advised women to delay their pregnancies.
The United States (US) has advised pregnant women not to travel to the affected countries. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently told The level of concern is high, as is the level of uncertainty. We need to get some answers quickly. The experts agreed that a causal relationship between Zika infection during pregnancy and Microcephaly is strongly suspected, though not yet scientifically proven.
The Fiocruz institute in Rio de Janeiro, Brazils top research centre said Zika had been detected in urine and saliva. The scientists were careful to clarify that there is no proof the virus can be transmitted through those fluids, but said people should take precautions, especially expecting mothers. The Fiocruz urged to Avoid sharing glasses, silverware, and contact with someone who has symptoms of a possible infection. Dont kiss, obviously. The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for their part urged people to use condoms or abstain from having sex if they live in or have traveled to Zika-infected areas. The US health officials confirmed the first case of sexually transmitted Zika a person who had traveled to Venezuela and infected a sexual partner in Texas upon return. In the US territory of Puerto Rico, officials declared a health emergency over Zika and confirmed a pregnant woman had been infected, bringing the number of cases on the island to 22. The emergency measures included freezing the price of condoms and combating mosquitoes.
All concerned agreed on the urgent need to coordinate international efforts to investigate and understand this relationship better. The experts also considered patterns of recent spread and the broad geographical distribution of mosquito species that can transmit the virus. According to WHO, the lack of vaccines and rapid and reliable diagnostic tests, and the absence of population immunity in newly affected countries were cited as further causes for concern. Both the US, CDC and Fiocruz said more research was needed on person-to-person transmission. Brazil has been the country hardest hit by the outbreak, with an estimated 1.5 million cases.
Colombia is next on the list, with more than 25,646 people infected including 3,177 pregnant women. Zika often goes unnoticed, and causes a relatively mild fever and rash in those who do develop symptoms. But Brazil sounded the alarm after recording a surge in babies born with Microcephaly. It has registered 404 cases since October 2015 and 3,670 suspected cases, up from 147 in all of 2014.
The UN and US health officials alleged that the Zika affected major country Brazil is not sharing enough samples and disease data to let researchers determine whether the Zika virus is, as feared, linked to the increased number of babies born with abnormally small heads in the South American country. The lack of data is forcing laboratories in the US and Europe to work with samples from previous outbreaks, and is frustrating efforts to develop diagnostic tests, drugs and vaccines.
Scientists tell that having so little to work with is hampering their ability to track the Zika virus evolution. One major problem appears to be Brazilian law. At the moment, it is technically illegal for Brazilian researchers and institutes to share genetic material, including blood samples containing Zika and other viruses. Dr. Marcos Espinal, director of communicable diseases in the WHOs regional office in Washington said Its a very delicate issue, this sharing of samples. Lawyers have to be involved. Dr. Espinal, however, said he hoped the issue might be resolved after discussions between the US and Brazilian presidents. He said the WHOs role was mainly to be a broker to encourage countries to share genetic information. He said There is no way this should not be solved in the foreseeable future. Waiting is always risky during an emergency.
As the first cases of Zika in Brazil were emerging last May 2015, President Dilma Rousseff signed a new law to regulate how researchers use the countrys genetic resources. But the regulatory framework has not yet been drafted, leaving scientists in legal limbo. Paulo Gadelha, president of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazils premier state-run research institute for tropical diseases said Until the law is implemented, were legally prohibited from sending samples abroad. Even if we wanted to send this material abroad, we cant because its considered a crime. The spike in cases prompted WHO to declare an international emergency on February 01, 2016.
Public health officials across the world are falling back on older viruses or discreetly taking them from private patients, in the face of drought of Brazilian samples. The US official, who shared the information on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak publicly, said the CDC was relying on a strain taken from a 2013 outbreak in French Polynesia to perfect its Zika tests. He said the US researchers trying to sequence Zikas genetic code have been forced to work with virus samples from Puerto Rico for the same reason. Dr. Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit, an expert on mosquito-borne diseases at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg said that some researchers are bypassing Brazils bureaucracy by getting samples sent to them for testing by a private laboratory
Referring to Brazil, Dr. Schmidt-Chanasit told Its almost impossible to get samples from the country. Its not going via official government channels. Our source is simply the rich people who want a diagnosis. The WHO said after February 01, 2016 meeting that Brazil and the US were working very closely on studies. The director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci when asked about sample sharing told: I dont think its an issue.
Four officials at the WHO told that the Brazilians were starving international partners of up-to-date information. One of the officials said WHO has gotten zero from them, no clinical or lab findings. All four spoke on condition of anonymity because they were talking without authorization. A virologist at Englands Reading University named Ben Neuman said thousands of samples or hundreds at a minimum were needed to track the virus and determine how it is changing. He said Science only works when we share. Gadelha of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation said the virus sharing problems are not limited to Brazil. He said This isnt a unilateral issue; its a global problem. Director of WHOs Collaborating Center on Public Health Law and Human Rights at Georgetown University, Lawrence Gostin said there are no rules that force governments to hand over viruses, tissue samples or other information. He said If countries dont share, the only repercussions they face are public condemnation.
The Bangladesh Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), however, said there is nothing to be worried about Zika in Bangladesh. The IEDCR said that Bangladesh is at low risk of Zika virus as American Continent is too far from it where the Zika epidemic is spreading. It told that We have the vector (for Zika) but we dont have the virus ...we are alert as we always remain but there are issues to be worried. It is of concern that Aedes species mosquito which quickly transmitted Zika virus, a little-known, untreatable virus to people primarily through the bite of an infected, is more available in Bangladesh. The same mosquitoes spread dengue and Chikungunya viruses.
The IEDCR advised to take utmost caution as there was no vaccine or medicine for Zika prevention or cure. Prevention of mosquito bite and control of breeding ground were the key measures to be taken. The virus causes fever, rash and red eyes. The symptom appears in one out of five Zika infected persons. But about 80 percent of the people even do not know that they have it. However, the government needs to take adequate and timely measures so that Bangladesh people do not become victims of this disease.
The writer is a retired Professor of Economics
