WHO to decide whether Zika should be declared global emergency

The World Health Organization (WHO) is meeting in Geneva to discuss whether the Zika 

virus outbreak should be declared a global health emergency. 

Monday's meeting comes after warnings by the UN health agency that the mosquito- 

borne virus, which is linked to birth defects that have affected thousands across Latin 

America, was "spreading explosivelylll." WHO is expecting up to four million cases in the 

region this year. 

Senior WHO officials, joined by representatives Of affected countries and experts from 

around the globe, will meet behind closed doors to determine if Zika should be 

considered a "public health emergency of international concern." 

Tarik Jasarevic, a WHO spokesman, said that the meeting "will look really into what we 

know and will also see what level Of health emergency this represents. " 

A decision is not to be made public until Tuesday at the earliest 

WHO is under pressure to act quickly in the fight against Zika,after admitting it was slow 

to respond to the recent Ebola outbreak that ravaged parts Of West Africa and killed more 

than 11,000 people. 

Zika virus is a mosquito-transmitted infection related to dengue, yellow fever and West 

Nile virus. Symptoms are mild and include fever, rashes and joint pain. 

The disease is "strongly suspected to be linked to microcephaly, a birth defect 

characterized by incomplete brain development and an unusually small head. 

Brazil is the hardest-hit country and sounded the alarm in October, when a rash of 

microcephaly cases emerged in the northeast. Since then, there have been 270 confirmed 

cases of microcephaly and 3,448 suspected cases. 

Worries over Zika have spread beyond the affected areas to Europe and North America, 

where dozens of cases have been identified among people returning from vacation or 

business abroad. 

There is no vaccine or specific medicine currently available and treatment is normally 

focused on relieving the symptoms. Research is being done to develop a rapid test which 

could look for antibodies after a patient has recovered from the virus, making it possible 

to test for immunity. 

Only one in five people infected becomes ill, while treatment in hospital is uncommon 

and deaths are rare. 

Citation: "WHO to Decide Whether Zika Should Be Declared Global Emergency."WHO to Decide Whether to Call Zika Emergency. Al Jazeera America, 01 Feb. 2016. Web. 01 Feb. 2016. <http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2016/2/1/who-to-decide-whether-zika-should-be-declared-global-emergency.html>.

Response: This article talked about the recent outbreak of Zika in Latin America that has

caused so much panic. The World Health Organization is currently working on
deciding whether this should be considered a global emergency or not. The
reason for the panic and meetings with WHO is because it has started affecting
other countries and is expected to have many cases this year in Latin America
alone. This article does not seem to have any bias but clearly states the
severity of the problem. I think the author did a good job of presenting the
information clearly and I am very interested to find out what the World Health
Organization decides about the Zika virus.