On January 11th, the first two recent cases of
Zika infection in Africa were reported from Angola. The infection was reported
in a French tourist and a local from Luanda, the nation’s capital. Health
officials in the region are teaming up with WHO to investigate new and
suspected cases. The country is taking swift action due to its recent history
of ebola (2014), cholera (2016), and yellow fever (2016) outbreaks. At this
time, it is unknown whether the Brazilian strain of Zika is the culprit of
these two infections. However, it is likely as Cape Verde, an island off the western
coast of Africa reported the prevalence of the Brazilian strain in May 2016.
It is important to reiterate that this isn’t the first time that
Zika has reached Africa. As we learned last quarter, Zika was first discovered
in Uganda in its namesake forest in 1947.
Zika poses a major threat to the residents of Angola due to
rampant poverty and weak infrastructure. The weaknesses of Angola’s health
departments in reaching and treating patients were highlighted during the
outbreaks of cholera and yellow fever last year.
Read more here: http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/01/13/the-zika-virus-just-quietly-spread-to-west-africa-angola-outbreak/
~Jazzmin
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