Zika virus spreads in Panama. Just last week the Department of Epidemiology of the Health Ministry (Minsa) reported 91 cases, but yesterday the figure totalled 118.

The alert status is repeated in the countries of the Americas due to the spread of zika, a disease linked with cases of microcephaly (a malformation of the brain) in newborns.

In Brazil, country that has the largest number of infected people, also there has been an increase in cases of microcephaly.
Meanwhile, scientists from the United States claimed Friday [4 March] to have discovered how the zika kills brain cells in fetuses. Laboratory tests conducted at the Johns Hopkins Institute showed that virus identifies key cells involved in the development of the brain and then destroys them or turns them off.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), (OPAS), 20 countries already have reported the detection of the zika in their territory: Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, French Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, the island of St Maarten, Suriname, and Venezuela.

According to PAHO (OPAS) the seriousness of the zika is that it is a virus that is little known in relation to diseases that can cause or facilitate. It seems clear its relationship with microcephaly, after infecting pregnant women, and now it is linked to Guillain-Barre syndrome, a serious neurological disorder syndrome.Recent studies suggest that it also be transmitted sexually among human's carriers of the virus in some asymptomatic cases.

COLOMBIA

Colombia is the second most affected country for the outbreak of zika in the American continent. On 27 February, according to figures of the Health National Institute, there are 42,700 people reported with the virus, 7,653 of which are pregnant women.

The epidemic, which began on 9 August 2015 with the report of a female carrier of the virus in the city of Cali, has expanded through much of the Colombian territory with particular intensity in the Caribbean and Andean areas, according to a report from the Xinhua News Agency.

The expansion, showing an alarming growth, is faced in some municipalities by means of intense educational campaigns that can serve as example of what is the most effective way to stop it.

The Health Ministry of Colombia has linked three deaths with Guillain-Barre by the zika virus. This agency provides that the epidemic will affect at least 600,000 people during 2016 in the entire Colombian territory.

VENEZUELA

Venezuela health authorities estimate that there have been 5,221 suspected cases of Zika virus until now, of which there are 319 confirmed cases, and three deaths linked with the infection.
The reports carried out by the authorities of the country to the WHO point out that the first four cases of Zika were registered in November 2015.

But infectious disease specialist Julio Castro, of the Institute of Tropical Medicine of the State Central University of Venezuela, said that according to the curves of febrile cases from the Health Ministry, it is estimated that the virus would have begun between August and September 2015.

The precarious health situation and the political tensions that shake the country made many doctors regards some mistrust of the veracity and reliability of official figures.

Doubt is based in that authorities limited the dissemination of epidemiological statistics for more than one year for reasons that have not yet explained, and which were published only until 12 February, according to press reports.

Venezuelan Health Minister Luisana Melo said in late January, that the authorities had until then registered no cases of congenital malformation, such as microcephaly, which makes the baby of a mother infected with Zika is born with the smaller head than normal.

Doctor William Sanchez, professor of obstetrics and gynecology of the school of Medicine of the Universidad Central de Venezuela, said that, considering the period in which the virus entered the country, it is possible that cases of microcephaly may be seen between July and September 2016.

Sanchez said that there are reports of "around 10 cases" of pregnant women in the country that are being monitored to determine the potential risk of microcephaly.

Melo reported in late January, that there were 255 cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

Former Health Minister Jose Felix Oletta said that it is normally expected to have 30 or 40 cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome per month and believes that this figure of 255 demonstrates that the minister has the incorrect total number of infected of Zika. Oletta believes that the figure is much higher.

HONDURAS

zika virus was detected for the first time in Honduras on16 December 2015.

On 2 February, when there were 3,600 cases of Zika registered, the Honduran Government decreed an emergency against the disease, according to a report by the AFP news agency.

With the Declaration of an emergency, the government deployed teams of employees of the Health Ministry, military, and police personnel so that, together with the residents, destroyed vector breeding sites.

However, the spread of the disease has continued advancing to the point that there are 10,000 cases of Zika registered.
Health Vice Minister Francis Contreras declared to the press that "we have 50 suspected patients of Guillian Barre," who would be link to Zika virus.

WHO Director Margaret Chan said in Recife, Brazil, in late February, that the Zika virus is a "mystery" and that further studies on its possible link with microcephaly must be carried out.
"We still trying to obtain answers," Chan said.

On 1February, the WHO declared the zika virus as a global health emergency, since the infection transmitted by the mosquito has been linked with neurological diseases in newborn infants.
The virus is spreading quickly and, according to the WHO, up to 4 million cases may be reported this year only in the American continent.

On the other hand, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) announced that it will make available financial and technical resources to support measures for control and prevention of the Zika to its borrowing countries.

In total, the IDB is in position of redirect up to $180 million in funds at the request of the countries that have already approved operations. These funds will support efforts to control the main vector of transmission of this disease (the mosquito Aedes aegypti) and other public health measures.

Fonte: La Prensa website, Panama City, in Spanish; BBC Monitoring Americas