Brazil, US scientists join up to fight Zika virus
Luiz Alberto Figueiredo, Brazil's ambassador to the US
The United States is working to expand a positive agenda for cooperation with scientific organizations from Brazil for the purpose of averting a global spread of Zika virus, the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) told Agência Brasil. The agenda, which also involves scientists from other countries, aims to develop a vaccine to prevent infection with Zika, among other purposes.
Brazil's ambassador to the United States, Luiz Alberto Figueiredo, said US and Brazilian research centers had already been cooperating on dengue. On January 29, President Dilma Rousseff and US President Barack Obama talked on the telephone to discuss expanding the existing cooperation to include Zika. “Zika virus has sparked off a global [health] crisis and must be fought by every existing means,” the ambassador said.
The US government is seeking Congress authorization to provide $1.8 billion to the Zika battle. Part of this money ($41 million) will be allocated to other countries.
Tom Frieden, Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), says approving these emergency funds is an important step. “Mitigating the threat posed by Zika is no quick or easy task. It's very hard for a country to get rid of virus-bearing mosquitoes,” he said. According to him, “the focus now is on reducing the risk to pregnant women.”
The Aedes aegypti mosquito
Zika is currently circulating in some 30 countries, mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean. The need to develop a vaccine for the virus has also been mentioned in a joint statement signed by representatives of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Brazil's Oswaldo Cruz foundation (FIOCRUZ) in December 2015. Since then, experts from both agencies have met to advance research into the subject.
But cooperation goes further. According to NIAID, Brazil's Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Butantan Institute, and several Brazilian universities have been collaborating at different levels with US health agencies to fight the disease.
At the current stage, prior to approval of the emergency funds requested by President Obama, research on Zika and other viruses relies on a budget of $100 million. According to NIAID, this is a “limited” budget because Zika is a recently-emerging phenomenon that has become a growing global concern in recent months.
In 2015, NIAID provided $17 million to support Brazilian researchers with projects on infectious diseases. But with the outspread of Zika, Brazilian scientists may pursue other projects as well. The NIH, for example, has just announced that it is going to add funding to investigate the effects of Zika infection on reproduction, pregnancy, and fetal development to its priority list.
The NIH is a medical research agency that includes 27 institutes and health centers in the United States.
One of the program's priorities is to definitely understand the role of Zika virus in the growing cases of microcephaly. In Brazil, more than 4,000 cases have been reported since October 2015. In 2014, there were only 147 known cases of the condition. Scientists also want to know if there are other factors causing microcephaly.
Vaccine
“Further years” of research will be needed until a vaccine for Zika virus can be administered, according to NIAID. Before the vaccine hits the market, scientists will have to meet a series of regulatory requirements, including tests to verify whether a dose is safe and effective.
However, what motivates scientists is an existing vaccine platform for a range of viruses including Zika. This platform has been used by US researchers as a starting point for developing a vaccine for Zika.
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Brazil, US scientists join up to fight Zika virus
