Some 600 disease experts from 43 nations will gather in Paris on Monday to pore over scant but increasingly worrisome data emerging about the Zika virus sweeping Latin America and threatening the world. Scientists and public health specialists will discuss the virus' links to microcephaly, a disorder that causes severe brain damage in babies, and to adult-onset neurological problems such as Guillain-Barre Syndrome, which can cause paralysis and death. “It is now clear that the Zika virus can cause serious complications, and the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the current outbreak a public health emergency of international concern,” Institut Pasteur president Christian Brechot told AFP by email.
