Sanofi Pasteur said Tuesday that it has launched a research project to develop a vaccine to combat the Zika virus, dpa reported. There is currently no vaccine against the Zika virus or specific treatment for the infection it causes. Zika is a mosquito-borne virus similar to dengue, against which Sanofi Pasteur - the vaccine division of French pharmaceutical company Sanofi - recently marketed the first vaccine. Sanofi Pasteur's dengue vaccine was approved for use in Mexico, Brazil and the Philippines in December 2015. Dengue is a virus most commonly borne by the Aedes aegypti mosquito that also acts as a vector for Zika, a relatively unknown virus that has caused alarm recently for its apparent association with some cases of microcephaly - a congenital condition in which babies are born with abnormally small heads. Zika has not been definitively established as a cause of microcephaly or neurological symptoms, but World Health Organization (WHO) chief Margaret Chan said such a relationship is strongly suspected. The WHO declared a public health emergency over the virus on Monday. Most Latin American countries have recorded Zika cases. The number of infections is highest in Brazil and Colombia, and the WHO said transmission could grow rapidly.
