A 2-day meeting of health researchers began today at Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) headquarters in Washington, DC, with a goal of fleshing out a public health research agenda to address Zika virus issues.
PAHO said in a statement yesterday that the group will pinpoint scientific gaps about Zika virus, its impact on human health, and the public health implications. Experts will also review vector control measures to assess which ones have been effective against Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, the main carrier of the virus.
The list of participants includes representatives from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Brazil's Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) and Evandro Chagas Institute, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the Pasteur Institute, and Cuba's Institute Pedro Kouri. National experts are also attending from Argentina, Canada, Colombia, France, French Polynesia, Mexico, Panama, and the West Indies.
Financing and coordination between academic groups and public health are also on the agenda. PAHO will host a media briefing on Zika virus research tomorrow on the meeting's final day.
Pregnancy-related developments
In related news, the Washington State Department of Health (WSDH) and its partners in Spokane yesterday announced that a woman in her twenties who is a US citizen who traveled to an area where Zika virus is circulating and got sick with the virus while pregnant has delivered a baby with no apparent complications.
The woman had Zika virus symptoms late in her pregnancy, according to a Seattle Times report yesterday. In a joint statement, WSDH and the Spokane Regional Health District (SRHD) said the baby tested negative for Zika virus.
Joel McCullough, MD, MPH, interim director for the SRHD, said in the statement, "Although we can be thankful that mom is symptom-free at this point, and that her baby appears unaffected at this time, this serves as a timely reminder for anyone considering traveling to countries where the virus is circulating to be aware of the risks, and for pregnant women to delay their travel if possible."
Elsewhere, Mexico is now reporting 11 pregnant women among its growing number of confirmed Zika virus cases, according to a report from Reuters today that cited the country's health ministry. The number is an increase of 5 from what Mexico reported in the middle of February.
All of the pregnant women are from Mexico's southern states: 8 from Chiapas, 2 from Oaxaca, and 1 from Veracruz. The country's overall Zika total is 121, Reuters reported. Mexico is one of the countries reporting local Zika transmission.
CDC updates travel warning
The CDC yesterday added two more Caribbean destinations—Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Sint Maarten—to its Zika-related travel advisory for pregnant women and those trying to become pregnant. The two areas are the most recent locations in the Americas to report local Zika virus spread, putting the total in the region at 31.
The World Health Organization (WHO) today issued a statement today on the first local case in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, involving a 34-year-old woman who visited a health center on Feb 16 and was kept in the hospital overnight for observation. Her illness was confirmed on Feb 23, and so far no febrile illness clusters have been reported on Union Island, where the woman is from.
See also:
Feb 29 PAHO statement
Feb 29 WSDH-SRHD joint statement
Feb 29 Seattle Times story
Mar 1 Reuters story
Feb 29 CDC media statement
Mar 1 WHO statement
