News / Colombia

31,500 people infected with Zika in Colombia, government says

Saturday, 13 February 2016 4:24 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 13 February 2016 5:04 PM ]

The photo shows an Aedes Aegypti mosquito photographed on human skin in a lab of the International Training and Medical Research Training Center (CIDEIM) on January 25, 2016, in Cali, Colombia (AFP Photo)

More than 31,500 people, including at least 5,013 pregnant women, have been infected with the Zika virus in Colombia, the government announced on Saturday.

The epidemic could affect 600,000 people in the country and cause about 500 cases of microcephaly, a congenital defect in which the head of a baby is abnormally small and brain development is not completed, the government stated.

In addition, medical officials estimate that there are an alarming number of up to 1,000 cases of people affected by the Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that can cause muscle weakness and paralysis, possibly linked to Zika.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently announced that the Zika epidemic is spreading “alarmingly” and could affect up to four million people in Americas this year.

The Aedes genus mosquito has been identified as the carrier of the virus, but Zika transmission through sexual contact, blood transfusions or rarely from mother to child around the time of birth, is possible as well.

The virus has been reported in more than 30 countries and according to experts, with the pace the virus is spreading, especially in the Americas, more cases of Zika-linked birth defects will soon surface in other countries.

The photo shows the label of a package holding mosquito nets that are being delivered to pregnant women to prevent them from being bitten by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, vector of the Zika virus, on February 10, 2016, in Cali, Colombia. (AFP Photo)

There is no known treatment for Zika. A safe vaccine against it could take years to develop, according to disease specialists.

Experts say the only way of not contracting the disease is through taking safety measures against the virus: prevention from being bitten by a vector, or having contact with a carrier of the disease.

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