After nine Latin American countries have recently confirmed the presence of zika virus, the French Ministry of Health pointed out that the first two cases of people infected by the virus have been identified zika Guyana and Martinique.
Indeed, the virus takes its name zika a forest in Uganda where it was first identified in 1947. It is transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected mosquito, which itself becomes infected during a blood meal on a human or other vertebrate infected. Thus, as the set of arboviruses, Zika virus is maintained in nature by a transmission cycle involving one or more arthropod vectors and one or more vertebrate hosts.
This virus can cause fever, rash, headache, joint pain, pain behind the eyes, and edema of the hands and / or feet.
Moreover, these symptoms occur within 3-12 days after the bite of the infected mosquito.
In addition, pregnant women are particularly at risk, as likely to develop birth defects.
On the other hand, there is no cure or vaccine, the only treatment is symptomatic (management of symptoms), hence the importance of protecting all the time against mosquito bites.
The ministry said that “Guyana Regional Health Agencies, Martinique and Guadeloupe are mobilized to implement all the measures to monitor and limit the spread of the virus and to support those affected.”
