United Nations health leader ‘extremely’ alarmed by Zika virus

The top health official at the United Nations on Thursday announced the creation of an emergency task force to focus on the rapidly spreading Zika virus, which has now been reported in 23 countries.

“The level of alarm is extremely high,” Dr. Margaret Chan, director of the World Health Organization (WHO), said at a briefing on the virus on Thursday.

{mosads}The Zika virus, which is spread by mosquitoes, causes mild, dengue fever-like symptoms in healthy adults. But the virus can be dangerous for pregnant women and has been linked to hundreds of birth defects.

Researchers now believe the virus could also be linked to a rare paralyzing condition called Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Chan said the link between the Zika virus and both the birth defects and the instances of Guillain-Barré have not been confirmed but are “strongly suspected.”

“The level of concern is high, as is the level of uncertainty,” she said. “Questions abound. We need to get some answers quickly.”

Some countries, such as Venezuela, have advised women not to become pregnant. Public health experts have heavily criticized those statements.

The United Nations committee will put out its own recommendations, as well as prioritizing the most-needed areas of research.

The full board of the WHO will also meet Feb. 1 to vote on whether the Zika virus should be officially declared a global public health emergency.

Chan is escalating global concerns about the Zika virus one day after the Obama administration sought to calm public fears.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Wednesday that federal officials are planning a “conspicuous, concerted effort” to communicate the risks of the disease, making clear that it poses a far different — and less severe — threat than the recent Ebola epidemic.   

Earnest said there would not be a single official tasked with the response, unlike the U.S. response to the Ebola epidemic that infected fewer than a half-dozen people in the U.S.

Chan and the WHO were deeply criticized for their slow response to Ebola and have vowed to act more quickly when responding to other public health threats.