Brazil Announces $1.9million International Partnership To Produce Zika Vaccine

Brazilian Health Minister, Marcelo Castro, has announced a partnership between Brazil’s Evandro Chagas Institute and the University of Texas to produce a vaccine against the Zika virus.

The minister said on Friday in Rio de Janeiro that Brazilian Government would invest 1.9 million dollars in the project, while the amount to be invested by the U.S. side was yet to be disclosed.

Castro said the partnership had become imperative since there was no vaccine virus to tackle the virus, which has recently become an international health issue with suspected links to microcephaly.

“It is also believed to trigger Guillain-Barre syndrome, an autoimmune disease, in individuals with a propensity for the disease.

Castro said the two institutions would work to speed up initial research, and a vaccine might be ready for a two-year test in 12 months.

“We know it will take time but we are optimistic that we can develop the vaccine within a short time.