Brasilia: A little-known virus spread by mosquitoes is causing alarming health crises in Brazil . Thousands of cases were reported of brain damage, in which babies are born with unusually small heads.
Many pregnant women across Brazil are in a panic. The Brazilian government is urging the people to take every precaution to avoid mosquito bites. Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that causes fever. The virus is named after the Zika forest in Uganda, where it was identified in rhesus monkeys during a yellow fever outbreak in 1947. Brazilian health authorities in November linked Zika to a surge in babies born with microcephaly, a birth defect that seriously limits a child’s mental and physical abilities.
The bite of an infected Aedes mosquito which is also known to carry yellow fever, dengue and chikungunya viruses. An infected mother can pass on the virus to her newborn child.
