Zika vaccine still years away: US health officials

US health officials say it will be years before a vaccine can be developed and be made widely available for the Zika virus.

“The issue that we are focusing on is the issue with pregnant women,” said Doctor Anthony Fauci, the director of the United States National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on Monday.

Fauci said, however, that researchers may be able to do vaccine trials as early as this year.

“If it looks like it’s safe, we’ll go to the next stage,” he said, adding, however, that it could be a while before a safe, effective Zika virus vaccine became widely available.

The mosquito-borne Zika virus has been linked to a rapid rise in the number of babies born with microcephaly – a condition in which the person has an abnormally small head and brain. Such babies are born to mothers infected with Zika.

The virus is largely affecting people in the Americas, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare an international public health emergency.

The WHO has also warned about the spread of the mosquito-borne virus to Africa and Asia, which have the highest birth rates in the world, as well as to Southern Europe.

“Now is the time for countries to prepare themselves to reduce the risk to their populations,” WHO’s Europe chief, Zsuzsanna Jakab, said in a statement on Monday.

The risk of infection increases during the more temperate seasons of spring and summer.

Common symptoms of the Zika virus include fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis.

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