Zika Virus

Zika virus: Brazil says emergency is over

The number of cases dropped 95% between January and April, compared to the same period a year ago, officials said.

The virus has been linked to the birth of babies with abnormally small heads. The threat was at its peak as Brazil prepared to host the 2016 Olympics.

The World Health Organisation lifted its own international emergency in November last year.

The Zika virus has been linked to severe birth defects in almost 30 countries.

Promising Zika vaccine moves to next stage

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, said Friday that the DNA vaccine candidate developed by scientists at NIAID's Vaccine Research Center has been a success in animal trials and in the first human trial of the vaccine.

It has been such a success that the agency has moved into the next stage of testing, on track with its projected timeline.

Zika vaccine still years away - WHO

In a statement to mark the first anniversary of WHO declaring Zika as an international emergency, it says it is unlikely a vaccine will be available for women of childbearing age before 2020.

The outbreak, which emerged in Brazil in 2015, has affected some 70 countries.

An earlier outbreak of a less severe form of Zika hit tens of thousands of people in French Polynesia in 2013.

The WHO says five vaccines are entering or about to enter into clinical trial for safety and ability to induce an immune response.

Marshall Islands declares health emergency

This allows the government to mobilise resources for prevention work.

As of last week, 89 cases of Hepatitis A had been confirmed and 14 more were suspected, pending laboratory confirmation.

The Acting President, Mattlan Zackhras, signed the proclamation for the immediate mobilisation of people and resources to mitigate the spread of disease.

The emergency was adopted over two months after the first spike in Hepatitis A cases began in Majuro, last November.

Zika virus 'no longer an emergency' - WHO

By lifting its nine-month-old declaration, the UN's health agency is acknowledging that Zika is here to stay.

The infection has been linked to severe birth defects in almost 30 countries.

These include microcephaly, where babies are born with abnormally small heads and restricted brain development.

The WHO says more than 2,100 cases of nervous-system malformations have been reported in Brazil alone.

Although the virus is mostly spread by mosquitoes, it can also be sexually transmitted.

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Zika shrinks mice testicles, damaging fertility

Not only did male mice infected with the Zika virus have a tougher time getting females pregnant, their levels of sex hormones crashed, and their testicles shrunk by 90%, possibly permanently, according to new researchby the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Of course, these are mice, not men.

Mosquito army released in Zika fight

They say the unusual approach is an attempt to provide "revolutionary protection" against mosquito-borne diseases such as Zika and chikungunya.

The mosquitoes are infected with a bug called Wolbachia which reduces their ability to spread viruses to people.

The $18m dollar project is funded by an international team of donors, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

 

"Vaccinating mosquitoes"

The scheme - which aims to start in early 2017 - is also financed by local governments in Latin America, the US and the UK.

Zika virus likely to spread across Asia, says WHO

Hundreds of cases of the virus have been reported in Singapore while two cases of Zika-linked microcephaly have already been confirmed in Thailand.

The mosquito-borne virus has been detected in 70 countries worldwide, at least 19 in the Asia Pacific region.

WHO director Margaret Chan said experts were still looking for ways to deal with the virus.

WHO strengthens Zika safe sex guidance

The advice applies even if a person has no symptoms.

It comes a few weeks after doctors discovered the virus in the sperm of an Italian man six months after he first had Zika symptoms.

Zika is spread in bodily fluids.

The main risk of catching the disease is from infected mosquitoes via bites.

Previously, WHO had said men without symptoms only needed to use condoms or abstain from sex for eight weeks as a precaution against spreading Zika.

Accidental massacre of millions of bees

"On Saturday, it was total energy, millions of bees foraging, pollinating, making honey for winter," beekeeper Juanita Stanley said. "Today, it stinks of death. Maggots and other insects are feeding on the honey and the baby bees who are still in the hives. It's heartbreaking."

Stanley, co-owner of Flowertown Bee Farm and Supply in Summerville, South Carolina, said she lost 46 beehives -- more than 3 million bees -- in mere minutes after the spraying began Sunday morning.