The World Health Organization, on Monday, announced that it has began emergency talks on whether to declare the recent outbreak of the dreaded Zika virus in South America, a global health emergency.
It would be recalled that the United Nations Health Agency, last week, warned that the virus was spreading fast in the Americas and about 4 million cases might occur this year alone –even though experts warn that the number might be higher than that.
The mosquito-borne virus disease is linked to a serious birth defect, microcephaly –which causes babies to be born with heads smaller than normal.
Health experts warn that Zika virus might pose a bigger global health threat than Ebola.
WHO has faced stiff criticism that it was slow to act in the face of the growing health crisis and has been warned to avoid a repetition of the Ebola outbreak in parts of West Africa, where the health agency was slow to act.
Figures in Colombia estimate that 20,297 cases of the disease have been confirmed in the country, 2,116 of them being woman.
In Brazil, more than 100,000 cases of the dreaded viral disease have been found. Cases of the Zika virus has been reported in 24 countries and territories.
Brazil is expected to host the Olympics this year and about half a million tourist is expected to visit the country.
This has prompted more fear in the international community.
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