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A global health expert is sounding the alarm that an epidemic of Zika infections may be headed to western Africa, in countries ravaged over the past two years by Ebola. He says efforts to contain Zika are essential to head off another devastating public health emergency on the continent.

This week, a baby in Cape Verde, a Portuguese-speaking island off the northwestern coast of Africa, was born with the neurological defect microcephaly, a small head due to an undeveloped brain. Tests are still pending to see whether the birth defect was caused by Zika virus, a pathogen carried by mosquitoes.

Dr. Abou Beckr Gaye, WHO representative for Guinea ; Dr. Sakoba Keita, Ebola response national coordinator for Guinea (center); and Dr. Bruce Aylward, WHO executive director for outbreaks and health emergencies . Courtesy of WHO/M. Winkler

Health authorities from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone and representatives of partner organizations have expressed confidence in the capacity of the three Ebola-impacted countries to effectively manage residual risks of new Ebola infections--pointing to the rapid government-led containment of recent flare-ups of the disease.

Freetown, 21 March 2016 - On the eve of World Water Day, UNICEF said the push to bring safe water to millions around the world is going to be even more challenging due to climate change, which threatens both water supply and water safety for millions of children living in drought- or flood-prone areas.

The effects of climate change are felt through water (or the absence of it) - floods, storms and droughts. Water supplies which are destroyed or contaminated put the lives of millions of children at risk; without clean water, children are at risk of diseases such as diarrhea, which already kills more than 800 children under five every day.