ABSTRACT
Contrary to Ebola, Zika is not a fatal disease, but it was established that Zika virus infection during pregnancy was a cause of congenital brain abnormalities, including microcephaly, and that Zika virus was a trigger to the Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS). Protection against mosquito bites requires measures, such as body cover, mosquito nets, insect repellent, cleaning potential mosquito breeding sites, spraying of insecticides. The International Health Regulations (IHR) define this emergency as 'an extraordinary event which is determined to constitute a public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease and potentially to require a coordinated international response'. In the Zika case, the authors deplore that, in her 1 February 2016 declaration of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), the WHO Director-General gave deference to countries' national practice and policies in counselling pregnant women who had been exposed to the Zika virus.
