Last April was the hottest on record since 1880, with an increase of 1.1 degrees Celsius compared to those calculated between 1951 and 1980 average month, while 2015 was the warmest and 2016 could break that record. Carlos Gay, coordinator of the Research Program on Climate Change UNAM, and responsible for the Group on Climate...Read More

The World Health Organization’s expert group on immunization said on Friday it recommended that countries consider introducing Sanofi’s dengue vaccine Dengvaxia in areas where prevalence of the virus was 50 percent or higher. Vaccination should be done between the ages of nine and 11, but efficacy improved as people got older, Jon Abramson, chairman of...Read More

Top Zika investigators now believe that the birth defect microcephaly and the paralyzing Guillain-Barre syndrome may be just the most obvious maladies caused by the mosquito-borne virus. Fueling that suspicion are recent discoveries of serious brain and spinal cord infections – including encephalitis, meningitis and myelitis – in people exposed to Zika. Evidence that Zika’s...Read More

Researchers around the world are now convinced the Zika virus can cause the birth defect microcephaly as well as Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that can result in paralysis, the World Health Organization said on Thursday. The statement represented the U.N. health agency’s strongest language to date on the connection between the mosquito-borne virus...Read More

Access to potentially life-saving contraception and abortion can be a lottery for women and girls in Latin America, often depending on their ability to pay or the personal and religious views of a health worker, Amnesty International said on Monday. In a new report, the rights group looked at sexual and reproductive healthcare in eight...Read More

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Monday a dose of its experimental antiviral drug improved survival rates in mice infected with the Zika virus in a preclinical study. Two doses of the drug, BCX443, were tested against a placebo and an oral antiviral called ribavarin for their effect on survival of immune-deficient mice infected with Zika....Read More

Mexico has confirmed 11 pregnant women are infected with the Zika virus, out of a total of 121 cases, the government said on Monday. Most of the cases were identified in the southern Mexican states of Chiapas and Oaxaca, according to a health ministry report. Eight of the pregnant women are from Chiapas, two are...Read More

Mexico is the leading producer of fresh prickly pear cactus for human consumption worldwide with 12,000 hectares planted and a production of nearly 825,000 tons per year. According to experts, apart from human consumption, this product could be used in other areas, such as cosmetics, fodder for livestock, the generation of biogas and electricity, or...Read More

Hopes of developing a Zika vaccine took a small step forward on Wednesday as Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc (INO.O) said its experimental shot had induced a robust and durable response in mice. Shares in the U.S. biotech firm, which expects to test its product in humans before the end of the year, jumped 7 percent in...Read More

The Mexico Tourism Board reported that the Zika virus infection is a new and emerging disease in the country with 37 confirmed cases in the country on February 1, 2016. Epidemiologic studies have found that the virus is under control in the country. With very few cases identified and containment efforts in place the tourism...Read More

A new method to render male mosquitoes infertile by nuclear radiation could help reduce populations of the insect carrying the Zika virus that is linked to thousands of birth defects in Brazil, the U.N. atomic agency said on Tuesday. Experts from the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency are to meet Brazilian officials on Feb. 16...Read More

The number of countries and territories in the Americas reporting cases of the mosquito-borne Zika virus rose to 22 on Tuesday, more than double the number a month ago, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). An outbreak of the virus is affecting large parts of Latin America and the Caribbean and is likely...Read More

There is currently “no justification” for asking Mexican women to postpone getting pregnant because of an outbreak of the mosquito-born virus Zika, a senior Mexican Health Ministry official said on Tuesday. Zika, which has spread across the Americas, has been linked to brain damage in thousands of babies in Brazil, leading health authorities in Colombia...Read More

U.S. health officials on Friday issued a travel warning for 14 countries and territories in the Caribbean and Latin America where infection with Zika, a mosquito-borne virus, is a risk. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in particular cautioned pregnant women not to travel to those areas as Zika has been linked...Read More

Uber’s drivers will need permits to work in Mexico City and the company will have to pay into a transport fund, according to a draft government plan seen by Reuters, in what would be the first such regulation for the ride-hailing app in Latin America. The proposed regulation bans Uber and companies like it from...Read More