WHO Declares Zika Virus A Global Health Emergency.

reports officials say WHO’s move “will help intensify mosquito control efforts and expedite the creation of a more rigorous diagnostic test and a preventive vaccine.” WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said that “clusters” of microcephaly, and not Zika itself, led to the emergency declaration, even though the virus is “strongly suspected, though not yet scientifically proven,” to be the cause of the abnormal birth defects. On its front page, the New York Times (2/2, A1, Tavernise, Subscription Publication) says the emergency declaration gives WHO a chance to “revive its reputation after a faltering response during the Ebola epidemic.” http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/02/01/who-health-emergency-zika/79647164/