The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed the Zika virus is expected to reach Europe in the coming weeks, although the risk of an outbreak in Ireland is very low.
Infection with Zika virus has been strongly linked with a serious birth condition called microcephaly, where the baby’s brain may not have formed properly during pregnancy. An increase in cases of a neurological illness (called Guillan Barre Syndrome) has also been reported in areas where Zika virus outbreaks have occurred.
In the first risk assessment of Zika transmission in Europe, areas most at risk were those that are known to be home to the Aedes mosquito, which may spread the virus. These include the Black Sea coast of Russia and Georgia and the island of Madeira.
France, Spain, Italy and Greece were found to have a ‘moderate’ risk, but one that, according to the WHO, ‘should not be underestimated’.
A WHO statement reads:
“On 1 February 2016, the WHO Director-General declared that recent clusters of cases of microcephaly and neurological disorders associated with Zika virus disease constitute a public health emergency of international concern under the International Health Regulations (2005).
In light of the current widespread outbreak occurring in Latin America and the Caribbean, the risk for Zika virus importation and spread in the European Region should not be underestimated.”
According to the report, many countries extending from the Mediterranean Basin are at moderate to high risk for local Zika virus transmission:
Countries determined to have a high likelihood of an outbreak: Three geographical areas (Madeira Island off Portugal, and the Black Sea coastal areas of Georgia and the Russian Federation), which all have established populations of the Ae. aegypti mosquito known to transmit the virus, ave been classified as having high likelihood for local Zika virus transmission.
Countries determined to have a moderate likelihood of an outbreak: France, Italy, Malta, Croatia, Israel, Spain, Monaco, San Marino, Turkey, Greece, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Georgia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.
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Main image: Dejailson Arruda holds his daughter Luiza at their house in Santa Cruz do Capibaribe, Pernambuco state, Brazil. Luiza was born in October with a rare condition, known as microcephaly. Luiza’s mother Angelica Pereira was infected with the Zika virus after a mosquito bite. (AP Photo)
