WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION DECLARES ZIKA VIRUS GLOBAL HEALTH EMERGENCY

World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday declared the Zika virus a global health emergency of international concern.
The declaration by WHO represents its highest level of alert. This paves the way for more manpower and funds to be deployed to fight the disease.

Magaret Chan, Director General of WHO at a news conference in Geneva said that cases of microcephaly in regions with Zika outbreaks "constitute an extraordinary event and a public health threat to other parts of the world".

"International response is needed to minimise the threat in infected countries and reduce risk of international spread", Magaret Chan added.

The growing concern that Zika infection in pregnant women is linked to microcephaly-a birth defect that causes brain anomalies and small headache spurred the rare declaration.

Chan said the main reason for the declaration of zika virus as a global health emergency was that members of an advisory panel,
"agree that a causal relationship and microcephaly is 'strongly suspected' though not scientifically proven".