The Latin American and Caribbean States Community (CELAC) has decided to assemble all health departments of its member countries to deal with the outbreak of the Zika virus, which has been linked with birth defects and the paralysis-causing Guillain-Barre syndrome across many Latin American countries.
The President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos made the above remarks at a press conference at the CELAC summit in the Ecuadorian capital Quito on Wednesday.
Santos said CELAC countries would share information on cases of the virus in order to combat the outbreak.
Eighteen countries and regions in the Americas have confirmed cases, including Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela, Barbados, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana and Haiti.
To date, Brazil has registered 3,893 suspected cases of microcephaly, including 49 deaths. Among these cases, 230 have been confirmed to be related to the virus, 282 have been temporarily excluded, and the others remain under investigation.
About 13,500 people in Colombia have been infected with the virus with about 100 infants being born with smaller craniums and brains.
The Colombian government predicted that about 600,000 people in the country are at risk of being infected this year.
Starting from February, about 220,000 Brazilian troops will be deployed to go from “house to house” in a bid to drive out and kill the mosquitoes in virus-affected areas in Brazil. The women of childbearing age in Colombia, Honduras and Ecuador have been advised to avoid getting pregnant over the next few months.
Spreading from Africa to Latin America in March 2014, the virus is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito and could lead to microcephaly, a neurological disorder in which infants are born with smaller craniums and brains. (CCTV/Reuters)
