Uruguay: Mercosur health ministers hold emergency meeting on Zika virus

Health ministers from Mercosur member states gathered in Montevideo for the first regional conference on the Zika outbreak, Wednesday
Brazilian Health Minister Marcelo Castro claimed that "there is a positive correlation between the epidemic of microcephaly and the epidemic of Zika."
While addressing press, Director of the Pan American Health Organisation Carissa F. Etienne said that at least $8,5 million (€7,6 million) are needed to help "adequately" fight against the virus. She went on stress that "we need a better way of predicting or monitoring what is going to happen both in terms of microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome."
The WHO declared the mosquito-borne virus a public health emergency due to the speed at which it is spreading and its suspected link to a rise in babies born with microcephaly, a condition which gives them abnormally small heads. On Tuesday, two cases of the virus were confirmed in Texas. Moreover, it has been discovered that the Zika virus can be sexually transmitted, Dallas County physician Francisco Neira stated.
At present, there is no vaccine or medication to treat Zika. The only way to prevent catching it is by avoiding the Aedes mosquitoes that transmit the infection. The virus has spread across more than 20 countries, mostly in the Americas. Brazil has reported as many as 4,000 cases since October.