Planet in panic over Zika virus causing birth defects

Against that background, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova to prevent the virus from spreading on Russian territory.

Where it began

The Zika virus was first isolated in 1947 in the Zika Forest of Uganda. Last May, when the virus started rapidly spreading in Brazil and then spread to other countries of South and North America, it became a topic for wider discussion. As of today, the virus has penetrated 21 out of 55 countries of the Western Hemisphere.

The virus causes high temperature, pink eye, headaches and malaise, joint pains, sometimes nausea and stomach pains and upset. Zika is transmitted by mosquitoes and has been isolated in particular from Aedes aegypti. There also are data that the virus may be transmitted from human to human during unprotected sexual contacts.

The special concern of specialists is caused by data that if a woman gets infected with the virus during pregnancy, the child may have microcephaly.

Source: TASS