Zika virus: Rousseff calls Brazilians to action on broadcast address
President Rousseff 
President Dilma Rousseff gave a radio and television address on Wednesday evening (Feb. 3) calling on all Brazilians to get involved in what she referred to as an “urgent battle” against Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that transmits Zika virus. A surge in baby microcephaly has been linked to the virus.
On a video recording broadcast on the main television channels, the president maintained that the “primary weapon” to fight mosquitoes is preventing them from breeding. She said she wanted to give pregnant women a “special word of comfort”, and vowed that the federal government will do everything it can to support children with microcephaly and their families.
Zika virus has become a “real threat to the homes of all Brazilians. The war on the mosquito is a challenge because we have to fight it everywhere, so we all need to get involved. If we work together, the fighting gets easier. We cannot take defeat because victory depends on our determination to eliminate breeding sites,” the president said.
“The government is putting all its financial, technological, and human power into this battle,” the president went on. She mentioned international partnerships that Brazil has entered in order to develop a vaccine for Zika “as soon as possible.” A research study has already been agreed with US President Barack Obama.
The president said “all government buildings” will be inspected even though more than two thirds of the breeding grounds are found in homes. She also mentioned an upcoming mobilization on February 13 when 220,000 military men will travel 356 municipalities checking for insect breeding places and educating residents.
“We will spread out across the country and, along with the endemics and health inspection workers, we're visiting as many homes as possible to eliminate mosquito breeding sites.”
In the end of last year, the Ministry of Health established a connection between the surge in microcephaly in Northeast Brazil and infection with Zika.
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Zika virus: Rousseff calls Brazilians to action on broadcast address
