Brazil hopes to develop Zika vaccine in one year

Health officials in Brazil say they expect to develop a vaccine for the Zika virus in about a year.

But Health Minister Marcelo Castro has estimated that it will take two more years for any large-scale use of the vaccine.        

Brazil is at the centre of  an outbreak of the virus that has been linked to a surge of  brain malformations in newborn babies. Officials have said the death of  a third adult in the country had possible links to Zika.

The Health Minister announced that Brazil would invest US$1.9 million in research for the vaccine over the next five years, in partnership with scientists at the University of  Texas.

Researchers have agreed that the testing of the vaccine would happen simultaneously in mice and monkeys, and not separately, to speed up the process.