The Zika virus has gone from an unknown, obscure disease to an international public health emergency. Zika is become a major issue around the globe and many governments have declared a state of emergency. Brazil's president, Dilma Rousseff, said in a televised address that the virus is no longer a "distant nightmare" but a "real threat.""
Zika is a disease caused by Zika virus that is spread to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito. The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week. People usually don’t get sick enough to go to the hospital, and they very rarely die of Zika. Anyone who lives in or travels to an area where Zika virus is found and has not already been infected with Zika virus can get it from mosquito bites.
/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/5994697/zika_spread_Feb1.0.jpg)
Zika is primarily transmitted through Aedes mosquitoes, the same mosquitoes that spread Chikungunya and dengue. Infected mosquitoes can then spread the virus to other people through bites. It can also be transmitted from a pregnant mother to her baby during pregnancy or around the time of birth. Additionally, there has been few recently reported cases of the virus being transmitted sexually.
/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/5932097/Zika_virus1.0.jpg)
Any person who lives in or travels to an area where the Zika virus is found and has not previously been infected themselves are at risk for contracting the virus.
/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/5936491/Zika_virus6.0.jpg)
Children born to women who have contracted the Zika virus are at a higher risk of developing microcephaly. More than 4,000 cases of microcephaly have been reported in Brazil during 2015 - a twentyfold increase from previous years. Microcephaly is associated with having a head circumference of greater than 2 standard deviations below the average and no less than the 3 percentile, based on standard growth charts. The smaller skull does not allow the brain to fully develop, potentially causing neurological sequlae such as seizures, vision or hearing problems, developmental disabilites.
/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/5918863/Zika_virus3.0.jpg)
About 1 in 5 people infected with Zika will get sick, and generally only experience a mild reaction.Symptoms of the Zika virus include fever, rash, joint pain, or conjunctivitis that typically begin 2 to 7 days after being infected. More rarely, symptoms are abdominal pain, nausea and diarrhea, which may require hospitalization in severe cases. Potential complications of the virus are intracranial calcifications, ventriculomegaly, and neural migration disorders.
The Zika virus has no current vaccine. Health officials can treat certain bodies with larvicide to eliminate mosquito breeding sites. Janet McAllister, a researcher in the division of vector-borne disease at the CDC, says that "just generally keeping your yard clean and in shape, getting rid of debris or things stores outside that can hold water, or adjustng them so that they no longer hold water" are important and effective ways that individuals can take to limit mosquito's habitats. "It's also important to maintain the vegetation in your yard - to keep the greass mowed and bushed trimmed, with good air flow," McAllister says.
The Zika virus was discovered in 1947 when it isolated monkeys in the Zika forest in Uganda. Prior to 2007, there were only 14 documented cases of Zika, but after the first large outbreak in Micronesia, the numbers jumped to 49 confirmed cases. An outbreak occurred in the French Polynesia during 2013-2014, with a reported 388 cases total. Health officials had detected the virus in Brazil by May of 2015, and within a year more than a million Brazilians had been affected. Zika has since spread to more than 20 countries across the world, and it's expected to go much further.
Here is an interactive timeline map of the spread of Zika.