Sanofi Pasteur leads the vaccine field for viruses in the same family as Zika virus (ZIKV), with licensed vaccines against yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis.
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‘Due to Zika outbreak, Brazil has now warned pregnant women to stay away from the Olympics due to open in August in Rio de Janeiro.’
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It continued that "Sanofi Pasteur's expertise and established R&D and industrial infrastructure for the newly licensed vaccine for dengue, Dengvaxia, can be rapidly leveraged to help understand the spread of ZIKV and potentially speed identification of a vaccine candidate for further clinical development." 
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The announcement comes a day after the World Health Organization declared an international emergency over the Zika virus which it last week warned was "spreading explosively" in the Americas.
The UN health body also said a surge in serious birth defects in South America was "strongly suspected" of being caused by the Zika virus. Brazil has now warned pregnant women to stay away from the Olympics due to open in August in Rio de Janeiro.
"Sanofi Pasteur is responding to the global call to action to develop a Zika vaccine given the disease's rapid spread and possible medical complications," vaccine project head Nicholas Jackson said in the statement.
"In addition to the serious possibility of congenital complications associated with Zika, investigations are also underway to assess another reported connection between Zika and a dangerous neurological disorder," he added.
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Source-AFP