In Our View: Virus Merits Fast Response

There is little new about insect-borne disease presenting a large-scale threat to humans.

Estimates are that the Black Death — primarily bubonic plague spread mostly by fleas from small animals — killed at least 75 million people during the 1300s. Even today, Lyme disease spread by bites from ticks infects some 300,000 people in the United States each year.

Yet, despite humans’ often uneasy coexistence with the earth’s insects, an outbreak of the Zika virus in South America and elsewhere is worthy of attention. As Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., recently wrote in a letter to health officials: “There is a critical and urgent need for a robust and coordinated response at all levels. … While there is far too much we still don’t know about the impacts of Zika virus on pregnancy and children born after maternal exposure, it is clear that Zika demands our collective urgent attention.”

Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that is wreaking havoc in about two dozen countries, primarily in South America, Central America and the Caribbean. While most infections are mild, it is particularly dangerous for pregnant women who transmit the disease to their babies, which often leads to microcephaly — the basic definition of which is a baby born with a small head. This often portends severe brain damage that can result in lifelong developmental problems.

On Monday, the World Health Organization declared a global emergency related to the Zika virus. The response will focus on Brazil, where 4,000 cases of microcephaly have been reported since October. Margaret Chan, director general of the World Health Organization, said: “I am now declaring that the recent cluster of microcephaly and other neurological abnormalities reported in Latin America … constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.”

The United States in recent weeks has issued travel warnings regarding the affected regions, particularly for women who are or might become pregnant. Attention from Congress also is appropriate as American officials prepare for a virus that is moving closer to our shores and already has arrived in the form of travelers.

In many ways, the Zika virus calls to mind the 2014 Ebola outbreak that emanated in West Africa and led to a measurable amount of global fear. That outbreak led to only a handful of Ebola cases in the United States — but rather than suggest such warnings should go unheeded, it points out the need for a robust response. Ebola did not spread in this country largely because health officials took it seriously and embraced appropriate preventative measures.

The same kind of response is called for in the wake of the Zika outbreak. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said prior to a hearing by the Senate Health Committee that the goal was to “gain a better understanding of how the Congress can support efforts to prevent further spread of the virus and protect families from being affected.”

That support is essential and requires immediate action. As The New York Times wrote: “The images pouring out of Brazil are haunting: struggling newborns with misshapen heads, cradled by mothers who desperately want to know whether their babies will ever walk or talk.”

Only through a quick and vigorous response can the United States help other nations deal with the situation and prevent it from becoming a common occurrence here.