100 pregnant women in Cape Verde capital Praia have contracted the Zika virus. Global health experts say this could have unknown consequences in Africa, as most countries are ill-equipped for another public health emergency.
The mosquito-borne Zika virus was first identified in a forest near Entebbe in Uganda in 1947. Nearly 70 years after its discovery in Africa, it is threatening to return to its roots, this time apparently in a changed form, causing large-scale outbreaks.
According to new data from Cape Verde’s health ministry, more than 7,000 cases of Zika have been recorded in the country since the beginning of the epidemic in October 2015.
Regional health officials are most worried about the virus being exported to Senegal or Guinea Bissau.
So far there’s been no evidence from scans of any microcephaly among the country’s infected mothers-to-be, who are due to deliver their first babies this month.
Ultimately, how much damage Zika may cause on this vast continent will depend on the level of immunity among African populations, and that hinges crucially on the extent to which Zika’s genetic make-up has mutated on its round the world trip.
