WHO Declares Microcephaly Cluster a ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern’

Experts ‘strongly suspect’ causal relationship between Zika infection during pregnancy and microcephaly

WHO convened an Emergency Committee, under the International Health Regulations, to gather advice on the severity of the health threat associated with the continuing spread of Zika virus disease in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Some 18 experts and advisers assessed “the strong association, in time and place, between infection with the Zika virus and a rise in detected cases of congenital malformations and neurological complications,” and agreed that a causal relationship between Zika infection during pregnancy and microcephaly is strongly suspected, though not yet scientifically proven, said WHO in a statement posted online.

After a review of the evidence, the Committee advised that the recent cluster of microcephaly cases and other neurological disorders reported in Brazil, following a similar cluster in French Polynesia in 2014, constitutes an “extraordinary event” and a public health threat to other parts of the world.

Members of the Committee agreed that “a coordinated international response was needed to minimize the threat in affected countries and reduce the risk of further international spread,” and that the “situation meets the conditions for a Public Health Emergency of International Concern,” said WHO.

“I am now declaring that the recent cluster of microcephaly cases and other neurological disorders reported in Brazil, following a similar cluster in French Polynesia in 2014, constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern,” said WHO Director-General.

WHO did not elaborate as to why the Committee had “found no public health justification for restrictions on travel or trade to prevent the spread of Zika virus.”

• Zika and pregnancy [CDC]

Countries that have past or current evidence of Zika virus transmission

AFRICA: Angola*, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt*, Ethiopia*, Gabon, Gambia*, Kenya*, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone*, Somalia*, Tanzania*, Uganda and Zambia*.

AMERICAS: Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Suriname and Venezuela.

OCEANIA/PACIFIC ISLANDS: Cook Islands, Easter Island, Federated States of Micronesia, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

ASIA: Cambodia, India*, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan*, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam*.

[*For these countries, the only evidence of Zika virus transmission is from studies that detected Zika virus antibodies in healthy people.  These studies cannot determine where the people were infected or if they were infected with Zika virus because the antibodies may have resulted from infections with other closely related viruses, such as dengue virus.]

Related  Links

• ZIKV: Additional Information on Transmission January 29, 2016
• ZIKV: Media Sensationalism Forcing WHO to Overreact? January 28, 2016
• ZIKV: CDC Adds Two More Countries to Travel Warning List  January 27, 2016
• ZIKV Found in Australian Travelers Returning from S. America January 26, 2016

• ZIKV Emergency: New Warnings Issued by Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador & Jamaica January 23, 2016

Additional Links

ZIKV

• CDC Issues Travel Warning as Zika Virus Epidemic Continues to Spread January 16, 2016
• Zika Virus: Coming to a Place Near You…  January 5, 2016
• Disasters/ Significant Events – Dec 25, 2015 Posted on December 25, 2015
• Most Dangerous Pathogens  December 12, 2015
• ZIKV – Emerging Virus May Cause Severe Birth Defects  December 4, 2015

DENGUE

• Latest Dengue Fever Outbreaks January 20, 2016
• Top Emerging Diseases Likely to Cause Major Epidemics December 12, 2015
• ZIKV – Emerging Virus May Cause Severe Birth Defects December 4, 2015
• Dengue Fever Kills 204 in Taiwan  December 16, 2015
• State of Emergency Declared in East Java  January 26, 2015
• Dengue Fever Outbreak Prompts State of Emergency in Brazil City  January 21, 2013
• State of emergency in Marshall Islands as dengue outbreak spirals  October 29, 2011
• Chikungunya Makes West Nile Look Like Nappy Rash  September 19, 2009