The cash-strapped island cannot afforts to fund hospitals and hospital staff necessary for fighting Zika, the bloodborne disease that can have devastating affects on infants and pregnant women.
Doctors continue to witness an increase in patients exhibiting the symptoms of the condition. Paralysis and neurological disorders, such as the Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), are increasing in Latin American countries and its links to the Zika virus outbreak could be getting stronger, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed in a new report.
Scientists are saying that the rise in temperature caused by El Niño speeds up the life cycle of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which carries the Zika virus and other diseases like dengue. Current areas with Zika virus outbreaks are experiencing hot temperatures and drought.
The outbreak of the Zika virus in Latin America has caused concern all over the world with cases being reported and confirmed in the United States and European countries. Health officials are suspecting that the origin of the epidemic started during the 2014 World Cup that was held in Brazil.
Researchers from Uganda are saying that the Zika virus is not considered a threat in Africa despite the mosquito-borne disease originating in the continent, per the Associated Press. The virus was first discovered in a monkey back in 1947 and was named after the Zika forest located near Uganda's capital city of Kampala.
The U.S. government has started the research to find a vaccine for the Zika virus that is spreading like wildfire in Latin America that already reached the Northern Hemisphere. President Barack Obama called a meeting on Tuesday with the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Health and Human Services Department at The White House.
