New Zika Hot Spots Emerge in Venezuela, Colombia
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Health authorities say Zika is spreading quickly across Colombia and Venezuela, warning that the two countries’ porous border region could be the next hot spot after Brazil for the mosquito-borne virus.
Infectious-disease specialists say there are at least tens of thousands of cases across the two countries, which have a population of 80 million people and together are three times the size of Texas.
The 1,450-mile-long border has become of particular interest to health authorities, who say the virus is acute in the Colombian border city of Cúcuta and flourishing in a string of towns and cities stretching north across steamy, swampy cattle fields and hamlets to Venezuela’s second-largest city, Maracaibo, near the Caribbean coast.
The arrival here of the virus, which produces generally mild symptoms but may be linked to a rare neurological disorder and to babies born with undersized heads, is scaring people as it has in Brazil, where as many as 1.5 million people may be infected, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
Colombian health authorities have confirmed more than 20,000 cases of Zika. But they estimate there are 100,000 cases, saying they believe many infected with the virus haven't been diagnosed. Extrapolating from current rates, they estimate the number of infected persons will grow to as many as 700,000 toward the end of the year.
By then, officials estimate, Colombia will have 500 cases of microcephaly, in which babies are born with undersized heads and brains, and an additional 700 of Guillain-Barré syndrome, which can cause paralysis and death. Colombia last week reported three deaths caused by Guillain-Barré associated with Zika.
Adding to the anxiety is the breakdown in Venezuela’s health system, which is starved for medicine and supplies amid the country’s economic meltdown. Venezuela stopped publishing weekly statistics on infectious diseases in 2014, leaving Colombian health authorities only able to speculate about how serious Zika is just a few miles across the border.
Last month, Venezuela’s health minister said authorities had identified 4,700 cases of Zika, a figure that has drawn sharp criticism from medical associations and infectious disease specialists in Venezuela and abroad. They say the real figure could be in the tens of thousands.
