Global emergency over Zika virus spread

The UN health agency convened an emergency meeting of independent experts in Geneva to assess the outbreak after noting a suspicious link between Zika's arrival in Brazil last year and a surge in the number of babies born with abnormally small heads.

The World Health Organisation declared an international emergency today over the explosive spread of the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which is linked to birth defects in the Americas, saying it is an "extraordinary event."

The UN health agency convened an emergency meeting of independent experts in Geneva to assess the outbreak after noting a suspicious link between Zika's arrival in Brazil last year and a surge in the number of babies born with abnormally small heads.

"After a review of the evidence, the committee advised that the clusters of microcephaly and other neurological complications constitute an extraordinary event and public health threat to other parts of the world," WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said.

WHO estimates there could be up to 4 million cases of Zika in the Americas in the next year, but no recommendations were made to restrict travel or trade.

"It is important to understand, there are several measures pregnant women can take," Chan said. "If you can delay travel and it does not affect your other family commitments, it is something they can consider.

"If they need to travel, they can get advice from their physician and take personal protective measures, like wearing long sleeves and shirts and pants and use mosquito repellent."

The last such public health emergency was declared for the devastating 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which killed more than 11,000 people. A similar declaration was made for polio the year before.

Such emergency declarations are meant as an international SOS signal and usually trigger increased money and efforts to stop the outbreak, as well as prompting research into possible treatments and vaccines.

UNKNOWN FACTS OF KALPANA CHAWLA

The first India-born woman in space, Kalpana Chawla, died on February 1, 2003. 

On her 13th death anniversary, here are some interesting facts about the eternal voyager:

• Kalpana was born on March 17, 1962, in Karnal, Haryana.

• She acquired her Bachelor of Engineering degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College in Chandigarh in 1982.

• In 1982, she moved to the United States for higher studies. There, she obtained a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1984.

• In 1988, she began working at the NASA Ames Research Center, where she did Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) research on Vertical/Short Takeoff and Landing concepts.

• In 1997, Kalpana first flew on Space Shuttle Columbia STS-87 as a mission specialist.

• Kalpana was the first Indian-American astronaut and the first India born woman in space.

• On her first mission, Kalpana travelled over 10.4 million miles in 252 orbits of the earth, logging more than 372 hours in space.

• In the year, 2000, Kalpana was selected for her second flight as part of the crew of STS-107. The mission got repeatedly delayed and Kalpana returned to space on January 16, 2003.

• On February 1, same year, Kalpana Chawla died along with all six other crew members in the Space Shuttle Columbia on the ill-fated STS-107 mission.

Shortly before it was scheduled to conclude its 28th mission, STS-107, the Space Shuttle disintegrated over Texas during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, leading to the death of all the seven crew members.