As the world took a sigh of relief with news that the Ebola epidemic is under control, another virus hit the headlines. The mosquito-borne Zika virus is spreading quickly in the Americas and has been declared a global health emergency. But what is the possibility of the virus reaching Malta? Public health consultant Tanya Melillo tells Stephanie Fsadni that the chances that the virus enters Europe and Malta are low but travellers need to be cautious. Four million people in the Americas may become infected with the mosquito-borne Zika virus, according to a statement by the World Health Organisation released last week, with pregnant women being particularly at risk. Yesterday, the WHO declared Zika a global health emergency. Malta is not immune to mosquitoes but the types found locally are not infected with the virus, claims Tanya Melillo, the head of the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Unit at the health directorate. "Presently, the only way Maltese can become infected is if they travel to countries where mosquitoes have been infected with the Zika virus," she says. This type of virus is transmitted by two types of mosquitoes: Aedes aegypti and aedes aldopictus. "In the...
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