Zika Virus
disease is a nationally notifiable condition in US. As of June 2017, there were
1,997 pregnant women with laboratory evidence of Zika.
There were 8
pregnancy losses and 88 infants born with Microcephaly in US, with the
worldwide estimate being 2,300.
Zika is
spread mostly by the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito (Ae. aegypti
and Ae. albopictus), although sexual transmission has also been documented.
Although,
Zika virus no longer constitutes an international public health emergency but
according to WHO ‘Zika is here to stay.’
"Although
Zika's spread has waned, it still holds the potential for an explosive
epidemic. If it were to reemerge in the Americas or jump to another part of the
world, it would significantly threaten a new generation of children born with
disabilities such as microcephaly." said Lawrence Gostin, a global health
law expert from Georgetown University.
In this Ted
Talk Molecular biologist Nina Fedoroff takes us around the world to understand
Zika's origins and how it spread, proposing a controversial way to stop the
virus -- and other deadly diseases -- by preventing infected mosquitoes from
multiplying.
