The Zika virus is expected to spread all countries and territories in the Americas where the mosquito that carries the virus is found.
In response to the ever-growing concerns about the impacts of the neonatal malformations and neurological conditions associated with the Zika virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) released Tuesday its Strategic Response and Joint Operations Plan that details the plan by the U.N. agency to respond to the public health emergency.
According to the WHO Director-General Margaret Chan, the aim of the plan is to “support to affected countries, build capacity to prevent further outbreaks and control them when they do occur, and to facilitate research that will help us better understand this virus and its effects.”
The WHO says the plan will cost US$56 million to implement. According to a press release the U.N. agency is presently funding its Zika related work through an “emergency contingency fund” but will require donors to commit funding.
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The plan warns that “epidemics of Zika virus disease may occur globally since environments where mosquitoes can live and breed are increasing due to recent trends including climate change, rapid urbanization and globalization.”
However, the WHO seems to reserve its greatest concern for the Americas, where the Zika virus is expected to spread all countries and territories where the mosquito that carries the virus is found.
The Zika virus has been known to researchers since 1947 but was not regarded as a risk until recently as it was generally associated with mild symptoms.
However the suspected link between Zika and microcephaly, a disorder that causes abnormally small heads in newborns, as well as Guillain-Barré syndrome led the WHO to declare the Zika virus a publc health emergency of international concern.
“Possible links with neurological complications and birth malformations have rapidly changed the risk profile of Zika from a mild threat to one of very serious proportions,” reads Chan's foreword to the plan.
Research into this suspected link and the subsequent response is considered to the be the “over-arching goal” of the plan,
The WHO also seeks to communicate the risks of Zika in affected countries, provide care to the affected, and implement preventive measures.
The U.N. agency has previously criticized “reactive” strategies that spray insecticides in emergencies and has called for the return of large-scale mosquito eradication strategies.