On May 20, 2016, the World Health Organization confirmed the strain of the Zika Virus, which has infected somewhere around 7,500 people throughout the archipelago of Cape Verde off the western coast of Africa, is the same strain that has infected America.
Linked to neurological disorders, US health officials are saying 279 pregnant women in Cape Verde have tested positive for the virus.
“The findings are of concern because it is further proof that the outbreak is spreading beyond South America and is on the doorstep of Africa,” Matshidiso Moeti, African regional chief of the WHO, said. “This information will help African countries to re-evaluate their level of risk and adapt and increase their levels of preparedness.”
Moeti says proper precautions should be taken by African countries, including adequately raising awareness among pregnant women, and encouraging people to protect themselves against mosquito bites and sexual transmission.
A UK researcher says the virus has been in circulation in Africa for around 50 years, raising the question of whether or not large African communities have developed some sort of immunity to the virus
“It is likely that the South American, Caribbean and Polynesian populations had no prior immunity to the virus,” Dr. Anna Checkley of the University College London’s Hopstial for trpoical Diseases says. “So a high proportion of people who are bitten by infected mosquitos caught the disease.”
