Zika on executive-level agendas at White House, WHO
Lisa Schnirring
CIDRAP News
Jan 27, 2016
Zika virus outbreaks spreading rapidly through the Americas are getting some high-level attention, with federal officials briefing President Barack Obama on the developments yesterday and the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) executive board to discuss the situation tomorrow.
Brazil today reported more than 200 more suspected cases microcephaly, a devastating birth defect thought to be linked to maternal Zika infections, and airlines starting to offer rebooking and refunds to pregnant women who opt out of visiting destinations where the virus is circulating.
US officials brief Obama
In Washington yesterday, leaders of health and national security departments met with Obama to discuss the spread of Zika and other mosquito-borne viruses, and what steps are under way to protect the American public, according to a White House press release. Senior health officials at the meeting included Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Tom Frieden, MD, MPH, and National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Tony Fauci, MD.
Fauci discussed factors that could affect the spread of the virus in the United States and covered recent travel and clinical guidance issued by the CDC. Other officials laid out the possible economic and development threats posed by Zika virus transmission in the Western Hemisphere.
Obama emphasized the need to speed up research efforts to deliver diagnostic tests, vaccines, and drugs, as well as the importance of making sure Americans have the information they need to protect themselves from the virus.
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins, MD, PhD, addressed the Zika threat in a blog post, saying there’s a critical need to confirm through epidemiologic and animal studies a link between Zika virus infection in pregnant women and microcephaly in newborns, a condition that causes abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains. He also said much more research is needed to clarify how Zika virus interacts with mosquito, human, and non-human primate hosts and how easily Asian tiger mosquitoes, which can tolerate relatively cold temperatures, spread the virus.
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