If you’ve been paying attention to the news lately, then you’ve no doubt heard about the recent widespread outbreak of the Zika virus. New outlets all over the US are talking about it, but few seem to have any real information. So what is Zika? What are the signs and symptoms? What are your risks? Here’s everything you need to know about the Zika virus and the current outbreak.
What Is Zika and Why Is It So Dangerous?
Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that originated in Uganda, where it was first discovered in rhesus monkeys 1947. The first human case was discovered five years later in 1952.
Since then, scientists have found that most people infected with Zika will show no symptoms and no ill effects. Approximately 20% will experience moderate symptoms, such as fever, a rash, red eyes, and/or joint pain. In most cases, the illness only shows mild (if any) symptoms, and only lasts about a week.
So why is it so dangerous? Zika has been linked microcephaly, significant underdevelopment in a baby’s brain marked by a small and/or deformed skull, and Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system actually attacks its own nerve cells.
While Zika is a mild disease in adults, when passed on to a fetus, it can be devastating. Also, it can be sexually transmitted and passed on to the baby that way, as well. This is the biggest fear for those in danger of contracting Zika from a mosquito bite, especially as it is asymptomatic for so many people.
Right now, the best way to avoid Zika is to avoid travel to the 20 countries experiencing outbreaks right now, and to take all proper precautions to avoid mosquito bites, as well. If you fear that you’ve been infected with the Zika virus, you should get confirmation, especially if you’re planning on having children in the future.
Sources:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/02/05/everything-you-need-to-know-about-zika-virus.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/health/zika-virus/
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The Zika virus has been around since 1947. Only one in five people who are infected become, in any way, shape or form, ill. The symptoms are fever, rash, joint pain, headache and conjunctivitis. The illness is mild and lasts for about a week. I found it pretty hard to believe that, after all these years, the virus suddenly created a microcephaly outbreak in newborns. It made no sense.
This is why I share this article with you now.
A newly released Argentinian report states that the outbreak of Microcephaly, a rare neurological disorder that causes newborns to develop abnormally small skulls and brains, is likely linked to the pesticide pyriproxyfen rather than the spread of the Zika virus.
Pyriproxyfen is a larvicide added to drinking water that is used to target the Zika-spreading mosquito. It is produced by Sumitomo Chemical, a company associated with Monsanto.
“In the area where most sick persons live, a chemical larvicide producing malformations in mosquitoes has been applied for 18 months, and that this poison (pyroproxifen) is applied by the State on drinking water used by the affected population,” states the report, published by Argentinian group Physicians in Crop-Sprayed Towns (PCST) .
In Brazil where pyriproxyfen is being used, cases of microcephaly have proliferated. Although in Colombia, where the it has the second highest incidence of the Zika virus after Brazil, the infections have not been linked to microcephaly.
One Brazilian state has suspended use of pyriproxyfen until further notice, based on the findings in the report.
“We decided to suspend the use of the product in drinking water until we have a position from the Ministry of Health, and so, we reinforce further still the appeal to the population to eliminate any possible mosquito breeding site,” Joao Gabbardo dos Reis, State Health Secretary in Rio Grande do Sul.
I thought it was odd, I don’t remember the details, but there was talk of using mosquitos to help spread vaccine. A year or so later zika virus pops in the news. But it’s said it started with monkeys? Just like aids. …… right