On Friday, November 18, 2016 the WHO declared that the Zika outbreak was no longer considered a global health emergency. The outbreak caused a great deal of concern for many months earlier this year, and while in recent weeks the world’s focus has been on other topics, Zika has still been in the back of everyone’s mind.

The Emergency Committee (EC) met to discuss the neonatal complications, sexual transmission, geographical spread, and control measures being implemented by the United States, Brazil, and Thailand. The EC now recommends that Zika and its consequences should be treated as a public health concern.

This is in large part due to the fact that the threat to infants born to mothers infected with Zika face. After being labeled as a chronic problem, according to WHO’s Dr. Pete Salama, the WHO and its partners are shifting the focus of their efforts to affect the long term issues. The goal is to have long-term policies regarding Zika, such as research and programs, to better understand, prevent, and treat the virus and its long-term consequences.

There are still reports of recent infections coming in from the U.S., and the first possible case of microcephaly; one of the conditions infants of infected mothers suffer from, may have been found in Argentina. It is being recommended that prospective parents are careful about traveling to Zika infected locations; which include parts of South America, Florida, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia. However, Brazil remains the most heavily affected areas; with nearly 2,100 confirmed cases of microcephaly, leading officials to question what other factors are causing Brazil’s outbreak.

While the plans to handle the Zika virus and it's long-term consequences are formed, we can only hope that learning more about the Zika can help those affected and prevent future outbreaks.