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Scientists have won an important battle in the war against cancer, Greek specialists in blood cancers said following the announcement of the extraordinary results of a revolutionary cancer treatment in early trials involving terminally ill patients.

Brazil is signing an agreement with the University of Texas to develop a vaccine against the Zika virus, the country's health minister said on Feb. 11, adding the goal is for the vaccine to be ready for clinical testing within 12 months.

Zika, the mosquito-borne virus spreading through the Americas that has been linked to thousands of babies born with underdeveloped brains (microcephaly), is just the latest new disease to spread panic around the world. And wait! News just in that it can be sexually transmitted too!

Ireland’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) confirmed that two people affected by Zika virus.

One case is in a man and the other in an older woman, but both have recovered from the infection, BBC reports.

They both have a history of travel to a Zika affected country, while the HSE has said the cases are unrelated.

Brazil warned pregnant women on Feb. 1 to stay away from the Summer Olympics after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an international emergency over the Zika virus, blamed for causing a surge in brain-damaged babies.

The Zika virus does not pose a serious threat for Turkey due to geographical distance, says the head of the Turkish Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (KLIMIK), Professor Önder Ergönül, while warning that international travel to regions of outbreak risk pregnant women's lives.

Traditional cancer treatment methods like chemotherapy and radiotherapy are not ideal anymore, a Turkish medical oncology specialist has said ahead of World Cancer Day on Feb. 4, underscoring that new ways are being developed to prevent the growth of cancer cells by exploring the "cancer maps" in human genes.

The World Health Organization (WHO) readies to meet at a special meeting on Feb. 1 to decide if they should declare an international health emergency for the Zika virus, which is "spreading explosively" in the Americas and could see up to 4 million cases over the next year, international health officials said Jan. 28. 

No cases of Zika virus has yet been recorded in Turkey, the country's health minister has said, while also announcing the number of people who died from H1N1 virus leading to a form of influenza publicly dubbed as "swine flu" as 57 over the last three months. 

At least 57 people have died from H1N1, also known as "swine flu," in Turkey over the last three months, Turkey's health minister said Jan. 28.