World Health Organization

The mosquito-borne Zika virus is projected to infect up to 4 million people across the Americas in the next year.

Last May, public health authorities confirmed a re-outbreak of the virus in Northeast Brazil. Since October 2015, the virus has spread to other surrounding areas, including southern United States, according to Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

CDC_map_of_Zika_virus_distribution_in_January_2016 The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the virus outbreak as a “public health emergency of international concern.” Margaret Chan, director of WHO forwarded a statement to Al Jazeera on the matter—”Last year, the virus was detected in the Americas, where it is now spreading explosively. As of today, cases have been reported in 23 countries and territories in the region.”

Though there are strong suspicions behind the causal relationship between the virus and birth defects, Chan states that the claim cannot be confirmed yet.

The first outbreak was detected in Uganda in 1947. Fifteen miles outside the country’s capital Kampala lies the Zika forest where the first case was discovered. However, unlike the cases in the Americas, most of the local cases in Africa were mild, only resulting in a “rash, fever, and red eyes” for a few days. Julius Lutwama, top scientist for Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), believes there is an alteration of the virus from the one he discovered in Uganda to that of South America. “What has happened in South America is that it has changed a little bit… and through these changes it has become more aggressive towards humans,” Lutwama said. “This small change has resulted in it posing deep problems in the human population.”

Since there is no treatment or vaccine for the virus yet, countries are focusing their efforts on preventative measures first. In the case of El Salvador, Eduardo Espinoza, Vice Minister of Health, released a recommendation to the Salvadorans to “plan their pregnancies and try to avoid getting pregnant this year and the next.”

WHO, on the other hand, is planning on taking another route of preventative medicine by helping women reduce their risk of mosquito bites. They will implement this by providing more accessible mosquito nets and repellent.

The debate over whether women should abstain from getting pregnant has also brought up the heated discussion around abortion rights. People in this defense are equating the virus to that of a similar case in the 1960’s with the Rubella disease. Like Zika, Rubella had links to birth defects and abnormalities with pregnancies. However, because this was a decade shy of Roe v. Wade, the public debate did not go on for long. But as a result of the widespread discussion, more Americans “came to empathize with those mothers who has an illicit abortion” says Jasmine Garsd of National Public Broadcasting (NPR).

In the case of El Salvador, Espinoza plans to reduce pregnancies through natural ways, such as abstinence and condoms. But unlike the U.S., El Salvador does not have abortion-rights laws. Salvadoran abortion rights activist, Angela Rivas, see the situation differently. She claims that Zika will lead to “more clandestine abortions and a higher number of women being sent to jail.”
An emergency meeting will be held by WHO on Monday to discuss possible ways to battle the Zika virus. Until then, preventative measures have been taken to reduce risk of contracting the virus.

During his visit to the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta on Tuesday, President Obama announced a new course of action the U.S. will take in the fight against the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. This plan comes after complaints from those on the frontlines in the fight against the virus that there has been an inadequate response by the U.S. and other able nations. The World Health Organization (WHO), local governments, and aid groups all in agreeance the epidemic is currently out of hand. In his speech on Tuesday, Obama described it as “spiraling out of control.”

The new plan will be an estimated $763 million expansion of the current aid from the U.S., according to USA Today. A training program will be set up in order to train 500 health care workers a week. Medecins Sans Frontieres (French for “Doctors Without Borders”) called medical staff the greatest need by far at present. Along with the training program, the U.S. will also be building 17 new Ebola treatment centers, as all Ebola treatment centers are currently full. As soon as new treatment centers open they are immediately filled, according to the WHO.

Obama has committed 3,000 additional military personnel to be sent to Liberia to carry out the aid efforts. According to CNN, the Liberian leadership requested the help of the U.S. military with civilian efforts in Liberia. Major General Darryl Williams, the commander of the U.S. Army Africa, will be leading the effort from Monrovia, the Liberian capital. Operation United Assistance, the name assigned to this effort, will also involve what Obama is calling an “air bridge”, making medical supplies and health care workers more accessible to the region.

Officials say this is not a U.S. takeover of the aid effort, but instead it is an example other countries should follow. According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. are to host an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council this upcoming week to seek commitments from other nations and generate an effective plan for moving forward in the fight against Ebola.

On Tuesday, Obama addressed the fact that the response from the international community needs to be prompt, saying, “We can save lives. But we have to act fast.” U.S. officials have acknowledged Obama’s announcement on Tuesday is a reflection of the fact that there is currently not enough being done in the effort against the virus. The hope is that this surge of aid from the U.S. will be a turning point in the Ebola epidemic. During Obama’s announcement, he stated how we fight the disease is “not a mystery,” and called for a global response to follow the lead of the U.S. The WHO estimates it will take $1 billion to get ahead of the virus and control it.

Laurie Garrett, a global health and infectious disease expert at the Council on Foreign Relations said, “To get ahead of the virus, we need to have a massive presence on the ground yesterday.” Whether or not this is too little too late is still up in the air. Experts say if nothing more is done, we could be looking at hundreds of thousands infected. BBC News says some disease experts are questioning the focus of the U.S. effort on Liberia, believing it to be too narrow as the disease has spread beyond Liberia and continues to spread. While there is still skepticism about the sufficiency of this effort by the U.S., most non-government organizations are optimistic after Obama’s announcement Tuesday.

Obama’s announcement is, in part, a response to concerned Americans who are worried about the virus spreading into the U.S. The White House said, “The Ebola epidemic in West Africa and the humanitarian crisis there is a top national security priority for the United States.” The U.S. continues to talk about this epidemic as a global security issue as opposed to a health crisis.