Brazil is losing the battle against the mosquito spreading the Zika virus, President Dilma Rousseff said on Friday (January 29), calling for a national effort to eradicate the insect.
She said the virus had now become an international threat, particularly difficult to combat given that much remains unknown.
“(Zika) is no longer just a Brazilian issue, it has hit other Latin American countries, we are now seeing the possibility of an international threat to public health. We do not have experience in this, we cannot compare it to anything that has already happened, and it is still being studied. There are many things to be discovered, and we still need to find a clearer link between this mosquito and the disease,” Rousseff told reporters during a visit to a command centre for the Zika crisis.
On February 13, more than 200,000 soldiers will join a nationwide effort to eliminate mosquito infestations, and battalions have begun specialised training.
The effort is aimed at helping the population fulfil what Rousseff says is each and every person’s responsibility to eliminate still water in puddles and open storage tanks in their homes where the insect breeds.
“We are losing the battle against the mosquito. As long as the mosquito keeps reproducing, each and every one of us is losing the battle against the mosquito. So we have to mobilise so we do not lose this battle,” Rousseff added.
The virus has been linked to thousands of cases of babies being born in Brazil with microcephaly – meaning they have abnormally small heads and brains that have not developed properly.
Health advisers have told women to delay getting pregnant and many nations have warned against travel to Brazil, which has raised concerns around the Olympic Games to be hosted in Rio de Janeiro in August.
Rio-based infectologist, Celso Ramos, however, suggests that several factors mean the outbreak will not be quite as prevalent during Games time.
“Zika virus is not an identifiable disease, so this means that we hardly know what is going on now. I can tell you that we are having an increase in dengue fever, that is natural, we have that every year until the middle of May, so we are probably having Zika transmission by now. This is one reason why I do not believe that during the Olympic Games we will have transmission, because the population will have been saturated by the virus up to that time. Events before that, until from here from now to May, will certainly carry a certain amount of risk to people involved in it,” said Ramos.
The Aedes aegypti mosquito that carries Zika also spreads the dengue virus, which infected 1.65 million people in Brazil last year, 863 of whom died, in the country’s worst outbreak of the tropical disease.
Brazil eradicated the mosquito in the 1950s using chemicals that are now banned, officials said, and dengue epidemics are common year on year.
Sao Paulo Military officer, Toledo, said, however, that simple actions can be very effective in reducing the insect’s proliferation.
“These are simple actions which everyone can do, and I believe people are doing in their houses. We do this to lead an example. Since January 18, here in Sao Paulo we have been coordinated by the South-eastern military command, to give orientation on how to eradicate mosquitoes,” said Toledo.
More than 3000 municipal health agents are currently deployed across Rio de Janeiro, targeting mosquito hotbeds and Carnival and Olympic venues will be inspected daily during the big events.
Reuters
