According to BBC, American scientists studying the Zika virus have warned that it could be a decade before a vaccine is publicly available. The virus is linked to shrunken brains in unborn children, leading to severe brain damage or death. It has spread to more than 20 countries, and has caused panic in Brazil where thousands of people have been infected.Zika virus is a member of the Flaviviridae virus family and the Flavivirus genus. In humans, it initially causes a mild illness known as Zika fever.
"There is a high chance of the virus entering Nepal's Tarai via India," Dr Baburam Marasini, director at the EDCD, said, adding that precaution is needed to prevent the possible epidemic of the virus in the country. According to Dr Marasini, only the infected aedes aegypti mosquitos transmit the disease. "When an aedes aegypti mosquito bites the infected people it turns into a carrier of the disease," he added. He said that the EDCD would alert all concerned health agencies about the risks.
