No longer is Zika an obscure virus. With estimates that as many as 1.5mn Brazilians and 4mn people across the Americas may have been infected, it’s been spreading in more than 25 countries. The World Health Organisation has termed it a “global health threat”, and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been moved to the highest level alert due to the risk of transmission in the country.
Zika, which is related to other mosquito-borne viruses including dengue and chikungunya, was first identified in monkeys in the Zika forest in Uganda in 1947 and then in humans in 1952 in Uganda and Tanzania. It is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes that have bitten an infected human. The rise in global travel has increased the threat from mosquito-borne diseases. There are also reports of Zika being transmitted through sexual contact.
Zika typically causes mild flu-like symptoms. But since its arrival in Brazil last May, there has been a 30-fold increase in reported cases of microcephaly, which causes babies to be born with unusually small heads and, often, brain damage. The connection to Zika is not yet proven, but is supported by evidence that the virus can break through the placental barrier between a mother and foetus. Health officials in several countries have gone as far as suggesting women put off plans for pregnancy; in some cases for years.
It’s too soon and too complicated to gauge the financial havoc the disease might wreak, but damage seems inevitable. Dengue (with a wider global reach), also spread via Aedes mosquito, cost the global economy an estimated $8.9bn in 2013.
To be sure, when a little known epidemic spreads, there’s a price to pay. By comparison, tourist arrivals in Hong Kong were down 68% two months after the WHO issued a warning about the Sars epidemic in 2003; and 54% in South Korea two months after the 2015 alert about the Mers outbreak, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. The scare is bad news for recession-hit Brazil, currently hosting Carnival festivities and expecting as many as half a million tourists for the Olympic Games in August.
No case of Zika has so far been reported in the Gulf Co-operation Council countries. Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health said on February 1 that the country was free of the virus.
True, Zika is restricted in its reach as of now, but the virus can spread its wings. Countries in the Gulf, a travel hub connecting the world, need to take all precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus, according to a WHO alert. In a more connected and warmer world many countries may not stay clear of Zika for long. And in the absence of a vaccine, mosquito control is the safest bet.
To be sure, it is not be possible to eradicate mosquito-borne infections altogether. But the realistic goal would be to always maintain an upper hand over insects.
